The Rising Influence of Rising Affluence

[DewDiligence]

AGCO (a DE competitor) expects strong 2013 sales in South America:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/11/agco-forecast-idUSL1E8NB3NA20121211

Farming equipment maker AGCO Corp expects its 2013 profit to be in a range mostly above Wall Street's forecast, citing growing sales of tractors to harvest sugarcane in South America. The company, which competes fiercely with rival Deere & Co , expects 2013 earnings per share of $5.50 to $5.75 per share. Analysts on Wall Street have expected earnings of $5.56 per share for 2013, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. AGCO expects sales in South America to increase 5 percent to 10 percent next year…

All told, AGCO expects a sales increase of 3-5% in 2013, which is not that great. Still, insiders have been buying shares on the open market (http://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?company=&match=&CIK=agco&filenum=&State=&Country=&SIC=&owner=only&Find=Find+Companies&action=getcompany ), so they presumably think the stock is undervalued.