It’s official: You can reduce your investment risk simply by chucking darts at a list of stocks, then buying them.

That’s if you believe a Nobel economist, of course. His crude “experiment” was the start of “modern portfolio theory” decades ago. The downside, however, was that with a reduction of risk came a dampening of profits. So scratch that idea.

How about this? A startling study in the late 1970s showed that owning a portfolio of large U.S. companies with international divisions drops your risk 10% below a domestic stock portfolio. Much better. But that wasn’t the eye-popper…

The study also found that owning stocks in international companies cuts your risk in half…

Take that, “efficiency” theorists! Yet the stuffy professors still tried to refute these results. It was a losing battle, though, as more studies emerged, laden with more evidence that international stocks reduce risk.

But the

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The Brazilian Government is undertaking measures to improve exports in the country. Recently, it announced plans of introducing 5,200 micro and small businesses in international trade by 2010.

Having lowered its benchmark interest rate to a record of 9.25%, cutting taxes on goods and having injected around $100 billion into currency markets, the government is trying to encourage exports and improve the economy under present conditions.

However, Gross Domestic Product shrank 0.8% in the first quarter. Moreover, Brazilian exports have fallen in the second quarter of 2009. In the month of April and May, exports of processed steel, iron ore and other metals fell 48% and export of crude and oil derivatives dropped by 51%.

This has hurt the state-run oil giant Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (PBR), or Petrobras, and Vale do Rio Doce (VALE), one of the largest producers and exporters of iron ore and pellets in

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - April 1, 2009 - 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: Arrow Electronics, Inc. (ARW), E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. (DD), Aracruz Celulose S.A. (ARA), Ingersoll Rand Co., Ltd. (IR) and Echelon Corp. (ELON).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=4579.

Here are highlights from Friday's Analyst Blog:

Arrow Electronics Straight Across

New York-based Arrow Electronics, Inc. (ARW) is one of the world s largest distributors of electronic components and computing products. The company sources products from about 800 suppliers and distributes them

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We are reiterating our Sell recommendation on Aracruz Celulose S.A. (ARA). The international outlook for pulp and paper prices is uncertain due to the current global financial crisis. The difficult economic environment in the U.S. and Europe resulted in a decrease in pulp's list prices all over the world.Fourth quarter results were disappointing based on the huge derivative losses. The merger with VCP is a step in the right direction; however, the way the deal was done raises some concerns. Finally, the higher leverage and the suspension of the Guaíba, Veracel, and Minas Gerais expansion projects will prove to be negative for the company.All considered, we are keeping our current Sell recommendation on Aracruz, and we expect the shares to trade at a target price of US$5.50 at a P/E ratio around 12x our 2009 earnings estimate, still with a small premium to the ...

Latin America is widely regarded as a growth play in the equity markets. The explanation for this view is that the region is a commodity producer -- agricultural goods in Brazil and Argentina, metals in Brazil, Chile and Peru, oil in Venezuela and Ecuador, natural gas in Bolivia, etc. Commodity stocks are highly cyclical and very dependent on international economic activity, thus it seems that it is not the right time for commodity exposure. However there are other things to be considered.

In the past few years, the correlation between growth and commodity prices has increased since the main source of growth was the emerging economies, in which economic growth is more intensive in the use of commodities.

For the future, we expect this correlation to increase even more, as emerging economies will keep on leading the growth and developed economies, particularly the U.S. will rely a lot on government investments in

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Latin America is widely regarded as a growth play in the equity markets. The explanation for this view is that the region is a commodity producer -- agricultural goods in Brazil and Argentina, metals in Brazil, Chile and Peru, oil in Venezuela and Ecuador, natural gas in Bolivia, etc.In general, that's a fair vision. However it must be better understood. Not all commodities are the same, and not all countries have the same economic policy or the same stage of developmentIt is well known that there is a high correlation between economic growth and commodities prices. In the past few years, this correlation has increased since the main source of growth was the emerging economies, in which economic growth is more intensive in commodities. For the future, we expect this correlation to increase even more, as emerging economies will keep on leading the growth and ...

Brazil-based Aracruz Celulose S.A. (ARA) is the world's largest producer of bleached eucalyptus pulp, as well as one of the low-cost producers of this product. The company is responsible for 31% of the global supply of the product, which. is used in the production of a wide range of paper products, including premium tissue, printing and writing papers, liquid packaging board, and specialty papers.

We are keeping our Hold recommendation on Aracruz. We believe the company's expansion plans are solid, and that expansion should enhance the stock's value over the long term. However, the international pulp and paper markets remain tight, and the short-term outlook for pulp prices is positive. Recent results were disappointing.

The continued strength of the Brazilian real undermines ARA's exports and increases its real-denominated production costs. The recent deal with Votorantim Celulose Papel (VCP), however, is a positive sign. Votorantim, a direct competitor to Aracruz, recently acquired

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