Diamond Foods (DMND) acquired the Pringle brand product from Proctor & Gamble (PG) for $2.35 billion, as reported in Dealbook.

When we think of Diamond Foods we think of nuts, edible nuts. Diamond's two main brands are Diamond and Emerald. It produces all kinds of nut products for cooking and eating. Among them are almonds, Brazil nuts, hazelnuts, pecans, pine nuts and peanuts. The product line also includes microwave popcorn and potato chips.

U.S. stock futures are slightly higher Wednesday morning after Tuesday's rally. Oil futures dropped to $104.82 a barrel. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 27 points to 12,226.00 and futures on the S&P 500 stock index gained 2.40 points to 1,322.50. Nasdaq 100 futures rose 1 point to 2,334.75.

U.S. stocks closed higher, with the blue-chip Dow index surging 1.03% to close at $12,214.38 on Tuesday.

Data on wholesale inventories for January will be released at 10 a.m. ET.

Shares of Nokia (NOK) gained about 1.3% in pre-market trading after analysts at Bernstein upgraded the mobile-phone giant from underperform to market perform late Tuesday.

Diamond Foods (DMND) reported its Q2 earnings at $19.7 million, or 87 cents per share, up from $8.8 million, or 52 cents per share in the year-ago quarter. Excluding one-time items, Diamond's earnings came in at 91 cents per share. The company's revenue increased 40% to $257.6 million. However, analysts had been expecting adjusted earnings of 89 cents per share on revenue of $265.1 million. Diamond lifted its full-year earnings guidance to $2.45 to $2.51 per share, excluding on-time items, from $2.43 to $2.49 per share. However, analysts were projecting full-year earnings of $2.51 per share.

Navistar International (NAV) reported its Q1 EPS, ex-items, at 16 cents, versus the consensus of 23 cents. NAV reported its Q1 revenue at $2.74 billion, versus the consensus of $2.9 billion.

So, the unemployment rate sank below 9% in February, but investors didn't seem to be impressed by that. The Dow, Nasdaq and S&P 500 all fell on Friday over concerns about how the ongoing unrest in the Middle East might affect energy prices, and thus the economic recovery.

Will this coming week's economic calendar offer anything likely to bring excitement to the markets? Here's what's on tap:

• Monday: Consumer credit numbers for January
• Tuesday: Weekly chain store sales, TIPP Economic Optimism Index

Diamond Foods (DMND) was on the upswing Thursday, as traders cheered the company's latest earnings report. Diamond said it banked a fiscal first-quarter profit of $14.2 million, or 64 cents per share. Excluding items, earnings arrived at 65 cents per share, while revenue increased 40% to $252.6 million.

The results comfortably exceeded Wall Street's expectations, which called for a profit of 60 cents per share on revenue of $239.8 million.

This post is part of a special report, Top Picks for 2010, the 27th annual survey in which TheStockAdvisors.com asks the nation's leading advisors for their single favorite stock for the new year. See all 80 stocks listed here.

"Diamond Foods (DMND), a player in nuts and pop corn, is our top pick for 2010," says Sy Harding.

In his The Long & Short Stock Advisor, he explains, "The company seems to have had no problems with the recession or slow economy."

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage on BloggingStocks:

• Aeropostale Inc. (ARO) strong Q3 results topped analysts expectations, and it offered Q4 earnings guidance.
• Cascade Corp. (CASC) reported a surprise Q3 profit but lower revenue fell short of expectations.
• Collective Brands Inc. (PSS) reported strong Q3 earnings as well as same-store sales growth.
• Cost Plus Inc. (CPWM) narrowed its net loss in Q3 but revenue and same-stores sales declined.
• Del Monte Foods Co. (DLM) posted strong Q2 results and raised its earnings outlook for the full year.
• Diamond Foods Inc. (DMND) posted better-than-expected Q1 earnings, but said that revenue declined.

Cost Plus Inc. (CPWM) reported Thursday that its net loss from continuing operations for the third quarter of fiscal 2009 came to $22.3 million, or $1.01 per share, compared to a net loss of $24.0 million, or $1.09 per share, last year. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected a loss of $1.10 per share. Cost Plus also said net sales for the quarter totaled $181.9 million, a 10.4% decrease from the year-ago period. Same store sales for the quarter decreased 9.1% due in part to lower furniture sales and a relatively flat customer count.

Diamond Foods Inc. (DMND) reported a record profit of $0.88 per share for the first quarter of fiscal 2010. That was 38% higher than a year ago and topped the analysts' consensus forecast of $0.81 per share. Net sales for the quarter came to $180.6 million, 8% lower than in the prior year, due in part to a late walnut crop harvest. Diamond's forecast for the fiscal year are EPS of $1.72 to $1.82 and revenue of $585 million to $605 million, which is in line with analysts' expectations.

It's been reported that Canadian banks have fared better than their U.S. and European counterparts recently. The Bank of Montreal (BMO) did report strong fourth-quarter results last week. This week, analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect competitor Royal Bank of Canada (RY) to post modest earnings growth as well, while Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM) and Toronto Dominion Bank (TD) are expected to post earnings declines.

Analysts are looking for $0.98 per share (+6.1%) earnings from RBC, $1.25 per share (-7.4%) from Toronto Dominion and $1.36 per share (-21.8%) from Canadian Imperial. The long-term EPS growth forecast for these three banks is for ranges from 10% and 12%, which is in the same ballpark as U.S. rivals Bank of America Corp. (BAC) and Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC). Earnings multiples for these Canadian banks are 10x to 12x, but only Toronto Dominion has a First Call consensus recommendation of buy. The Motley Fool, though, recently commented on Royal Bank's steady income and reliability. All three banks are trading near their 52-week highs, and shares of all are up well more than 100% since March lows.

After the Memorial Day holiday in the United States, the earnings spotlight turns to Canadian banks: Bank of Montreal (NYSE: BMO), Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (NYSE: CM), Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE: RY), and Toronto-Dominion Bank (NYSE: TD) are all scheduled to report their second-quarter results.

While banks north of the border of generally have held up better than their U.S. counterparts, analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect the four listed above to report that earnings declined between 20% and 30% since the same period of last year. All four have P/E ratios around 10, and they are paying dividends. Shares of all four have surged 50% to 83% in the past three months, but are still 26% to 38% lower than a year ago.

After testifying before a Senate committee about AIG (NYSE: AIG) last week, the Fed's Ben Bernanke participates in a Council of Foreign Relations event Monday evening.

Economic data due to be released this week include wholesale trade and job vacancies for January on Tuesday morning, the U.S. Treasury budget for February on Wednesday, retail sales for February and business inventories for January on Thursday morning, and the U.S. trade balance for January on Friday morning.

Last week, Bank of Montreal (NYSE: BMO), one of Canada's oldest and largest banks, reported growth in its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings. But it may be the only one that does, as at least two of the Canadian banks scheduled to report fourth-quarter numbers this week have already released preliminary results that warn of lower earnings due to debt write-downs and trading losses.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect Toronto-based Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (NYSE: CM) to post earnings 42.6% lower than a year ago, or $1.28 per share. CIBC beat estimates by a penny in the third quarter, but missed by a penny in the period before that. The bank faces a class-action lawsuit related to investments in collateralized debt obligations consisting of U.S. subprime mortgages. Shares have climbed 20.7% from a recent 52-week low of $39.52, but are down 37.8% in the past three months.

Toronto Dominion Bank (NYSE: TD), Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE: BNS), and Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE: RY) are expected to report more modest earnings declines of $1.01 per share, $0.73 per share, and $0.83 per share, respectively. All three Toronto-based banks topped estimates in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion and RBC have recently announced plans to offer shares in order to raise capital. Toronto Dominion and Scotiabank have been trading near 52-week lows, and their share prices are down around 39% in the past three months. But only Toronto Dominion has a consensus buy recommendation from analysts.

Earnings reports continue to dribble in as the quarter winds down. Much of the attention this week will be on homebuilders KB Home (NYSE: KBH) and Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN) as investors look for any sign that the housing sector has bottomed (home sales numbers are also due out this week; see below). Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial anticipate that both companies will report that they narrowed their losses in the most recent quarter.

KB Home's expected $1.25 per share loss, on revenue of $725.5 million, compares to the previous quarter loss of $3.30 and to a year-ago loss of $6.19. However, KB Home's losses in the past few quarters have been deeper than expected. The Los Angeles-based homebuilder's long-range earnings growth forecast is 10.5%, less than the S&P 500. Analysts continue to recommend holding KB Home, and have for at least 120 days. Shares, however, reached a new 52-week high of $31.69 on Friday, and they are up 10.5% year to date.

Lennar is expected to post a loss of 52 cents per share, on revenue of $1.1 billion. That compares to the previous quarter's per-share loss of 76 cents and to a year-ago loss of $3.25. While Lennar also has tended in the past few quarters to miss expectations, the Miami-based company managed a positive surprise in the first quarter of 2008. Lennar's long-range earnings growth forecast is 10.3%, about the same as KB Home's. Analysts also recommend holding Lennar. Friday, shares of Lennar also reached a 52-week high, $27.75, but they are down 6.4% year to date.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Mattel, Volvo, PMI Group, Mosaic and Diamond Foods were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Mattel Inc (NYSE: MAT) to Buy from Neutral citing valuation, strong 2008 product line-up, and expected organic sales growth.
  
• Goldman upgraded shares of Volvo (NASDAQ: VOLV) to Buy from Neutral on valuation as they believe the company's prospects for earnings are not priced into shares. Volvo was added to the firm's Conviction Buy List.
  
• PMI Group's (NYSE: PMI) rating was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Piper Jaffray on valuation.
  
• Citigroup upgraded shares of Mosaic Company (NYSE: MOS) to Hold from Sell to reflect their increased commodity price forecasts.
  
• Diamond Foods Inc (NASDAQ: DMND) was upgraded to Buy from hold at BB&T Capital on valuation.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Bear Stearns upgraded Diana Shipping Inc (NYSE: DSX) to Outperform from Peer Perform.
  
• Morgan Stanley upgraded Telephone and Data Systems Inc (NYSE: TDS) to Equal Weight from Underweight.
  
• Targa Resources Partners (NASDAQ: NGLS) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Wachovia.
  
• Steelcase Inc (NYSE: SCS) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman.

Consolidation in the food industry has only left a few of the specialty companies trading on the major exchanges. One such outfit is headquartered in Stockton, California.

Diamond Foods (NASDAQ: DMND) processes, markets and distributes culinary nuts and snack products under the Diamond, Emerald and Harmony brands. The firm's walnuts, almonds, Brazil nuts, hazelnuts, pecans, pine nuts and Spanish peanuts are sold for snacking and for use in home cooking and restaurant recipes. Mass merchandise customers include Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), Safeway (NYSE: SWY) and Kroger (NYSE: KR). The firm does business in North America, Europe and Asia.

The company pleased investors earlier in the week, when it reported Q3 top and bottom line results that handily topped Street estimates and guided FY07 expectations to levels in-line with analyst ranges. DMND shares popped into the initial stages of a bullish "flag" consolidation pattern on the news. Prices frequently exit flags moving in the same direction they were traveling when they entered them. In this case, that would be to the upside.

Brokers recommend the issue with one "strong buy" and four "holds." Analysts expect a 43% growth rate, through the next year. The DMND Price to Sales ratio (0.57), Price to Book ratio (2.25), Price to Cash Flow ratio (14.95), Price to Free Cash Flow ratio (30.37), Sales Growth rate (43.09%) and EPS Growth rate (-0.20 to -0.09 yr/yr) compare favorably with industry, sector and S&P 500 averages. Institutional investors hold about 54% of the outstanding shares. Over the past 52 weeks, the stock has traded between $13.15 and $19.93. A stop-loss of $15.10 looks good here.

Larry Schutts is a contributing editor for Theflyonthewall.com and the Vice-President of Stockwinners.com.