UPDATE: JP Morgan Downgrades The Dow Chemical Company to Neutral on Comparable Earnings Vulnerability

JP Morgan reduces its rating on The Dow Chemical Company

from Overweight to Neutral while it reiterates a $36 price target on shares. JP Morgan says, "Dow is the most expensive of the North American petrochemical companies at this juncture and probably has more relative earnings vulnerability in 2012 than its comparables. Dow tends to perform well in economic environments characterized by generous rates of GDP growth because Dow benefits from vertical integration, the leverage of its fixed costs when operating rates rise, and margin expansion from growth in higher-margin differentiated products. The opposite can be the case, conversely, in a weaker economic environment." DOW closed at $32.24 on Monday.