Shares of farm equipment maker Deere & Company (NYSE: DE) received a kick in the teeth last week when JPMorgan Chase & Compnay (NYSE: JPM) reduced its rating on the company to neutral from overweight. JPMorgan was, in part, reacting to a U.S. Department of Agriculture forecast that corn inventories will increase even as demand falls off substantially.
Morgan thus predicted that corn prices are poised to fall, which will in turn threaten farmers' purchasing power. Farm equipment sales appear to have already peaked, the financial firm said.
The shares didn't exactly crash the day of the downgrade, but have steadily slipped and given up the rather impressive gains made during the first full week of trading this year.
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