Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Vale do Rio Doce, BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Diamond Foods and Kellogg Co.

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CHICAGO--(Business Wire)--
Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day
the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting
stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include:
Vale do Rio Doce (NYSE: RIO), BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP), Rio Tinto (NYSE: RTP),
Diamond Foods (NASDAQ: DMND) and Kellogg Co. (NYSE: K).

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Here are highlights from Friday`s Analyst Blog:

Chinese Getting a Bargain on Iron

According to Shan Shanghua, general secretary of the Chinese Iron and Steel
Association (CISA), some mining companies reached an agreement with Chinese
steel producers to provide a discount of 40% over the prices of iron according
to the 2008 contract. The new iron ore price for 2009 remains under negotiation.

Mr. Shanghua refused to declare which big mining company accepted the deal;
however other CISA source declared that Vale do Rio Doce (NYSE: RIO) accepted
it. The deal is retroactive to January 2009.

We believe the announcement is a good indication of the iron ore definite price
that is under negotiation. We continue to expect a price reduction of iron ore
for BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP) and Rio Tinto (NYSE: RTP) of around 40% for 2009
and for Vale (RIO) of around 30%, as Vale had a lower price increase in 2008.

Diamond Foods Nuts, Not Crazy

Diamond Foods (NASDAQ: DMND) supports existing and new products through a unique
advertising strategy -- namely, Diamond's products are marketed through
television advertising during the major sporting events, such as the Super Bowl,
the World Series, the Olympics, the U.S. Open, and now March Madness.

The company has announced a new TV advertising campaign to debut on April 4th
and April 6th during the Final Four and Championship games. Three new TV
commercials will be aired, which will continue the company's "Natural Energy"
campaign that depicts "the bad things that can happen when you don't eat Emerald
Nuts at 3 p.m."

One of the key factors for Diamond's sales growth has been the continued
investment in its brands through advertising campaigns that target key sporting
events. Though the company devoted 3.9% of sales to advertising in the last
fiscal year -- which is about average for a food company and well below the 8.4%
of sales than Kellogg Co. (NYSE: K) devotes to advertising -- given the small
size of the Diamond's revenue base of $542 million, it may seem peculiar that a
company of Diamond's size would target high profile sporting events, which have
very high advertising fees for 30 second spots ($3 million for the 2009 Super
Bowl).

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