"This is a time for defensive measures, and one defensive stock idea is Telefonica (TEF); based in Madrid, Spain, Telefonica is a world telecom leader, with more than 280 million customers in 25 countries," notes Mark Skousen.

The editor of Forecasts & Strategies explains, "The company has a particular emphasis on Latin America. Telefonica offers landlines, cell phones and services, network leasing, cable and satellite television, and broadband services. It also is expanding rapidly in Asia in a partnership with China Unicom.

"Royal Gold (RGLD), a gold royalty operation, is progressing well, and is a good buy at current levels," says global resources expert Adrian Day.

The editor of The Global Analyst explains, "Over $6 a share income by 2013 makes Royal Gold fundamentally inexpensive; it is also selling below a reasonable net asset value, unusually for gold stocks.

"The company hold a gold royalty on part of the huge Penasquito mine in Mexico, which had a good first quarter. Royal Gold has other new projects gearing up to boost revenues. Andacollo started production in October, so this year will see a full year of revenues from two new mines.

Auto parts retailer Autozone Inc. (AZO) reported its fiscal first quarter results this morning, beating analyst estimates for the quarter.

Going into this morning's earnings report, analysts were expecting to see Autozone report earnings of $3.40 per share, but the company easily beat out estimates with a reported $3.77.

At times, it can be really hard to remember just how good we have it as Americans. In all the doom and gloom talk of the economy, such as Goldman Sachs saying it will be "fairly bad" at best over the coming six to nine months, I think this is we need to be reminded of this sometimes.

We are one of the richest and freest countries in the world. We have freedom of speech, press and religion. Economically, we are very well off. While with the weak U.S. dollar we may not be the richest country in the world anymore, we are far from poor.

To put things in perspective, here is a select list of some of the countries in the world and their 2009 gross domestic product based on purchasing-power-parity per capita, according to IMF data:

I'm betting on a substantial rise in copper prices. It seems like a sure bet to me. As global manufacturing interests are attempting to excite production and governments are attempting to re-energize consumerism, warehouse supplies of copper have been declining.

Yet, this alone is not what piques my interest. Two other significant factors are converging with a reduced copper stockpile, creating what I see as an undeniable, medium-term investment opportunity.

"For the 24th year running that the Economist magazine has published its famed Big Mac Index; this index is a tongue-and-cheek way of measuring the purchasing power parity (PPP) -- that is, the relative overvaluation and undervaluation of the world's currencies," notes Nicholas Vardy.

The editor of The Global Stock Investor explains, "What does the Big Mac now say about the relative value of global currencies?

"According to the theory of purchasing power parity, a dollar should buy the same amount of the same good across all countries. By comparing the cost of Big Macs -- a good that is produced in about 120 countries -- the Big Mac Index calculates the exchange rate (the Big Mac PPP) that would result in hamburgers costing the same in America as they do abroad.

"In our view, golden days lie ahead for silver; and one of the most promising small-cap silver mining companies is Coeur d' Alene Mines (CDE), which I believe has the potential for 40 percent or more upside," says Ian Wyatt.

The editor of The 100K Portfolio explains, "While the company takes it's name from the Idaho town in which it is headquartered, this is a mining company with a global presence.

"With mines in geographically stable areas including Argentina, Alaska, Australia, Bolivia, Chile, Mexico and Nevada, the operations are wide reaching.

Since the April 20th explosion of BP's (BP) deepwater rig Horizon, the stock has been steadily falling, and shares fell to a 14 month low today.

The stock finished the day down 6% to $26.97, down $1.77, and traded as low as $26.83 during the day.

Oil has been gushing into the Gulf of Mexico for 62 days now, and no one is expecting BP to be able to stop it until at least August, and that is assuming that the two relief wells the company is drilling will be ready in time.

There are many places that Warren Buffett may choose to invest Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A / BRK.B) capital. At the same time you can be sure there are places he will not set foot. It is not likely he will invest anywhere that does not have a vibrant, well-established stock market with a stable government. So, Mr. Hugo Chavez in Venezuela will not likely see any capital deployed from the likes of "my pal Warren" any time soon.

As a matter of fact, I would put the chances at slim of any South American country, besides Brazil, getting a look at all. Brazil is just too big and too vibrant to ignore. I would rule out Africa entirely except for indirect investments in oil and minerals through large conglomerates. The closest thing in the region would be Israel, at the furthest western reaches of Asia. He has already invested there and there is a high probability he would again. Investors from most of Europe and Asia have done the same, although many would rather not discuss it.

He has also invested in China, Great Britain, South Korea, and Switzerland. I would expect more money to be plowed into all of them again without reservation if the right deal materialized.

"Given the stock market setback, the time to buy has come. So what is a global investor to do now? Where in the world do we go?" asks Vivian Lewis.

The editor of Global Investing reviews five global investment ideas: Mexico's Cemex (CX), Canada's Cameco (CCJ), Greece's Coca Cola Hellenic (CCH), Israel's Teva Pharmaceutcial (TEVA), and India's ICICI Bank (IBN).

"I think this May correction has been the result of insane blind total panic in the wake of the still unexplained flash crash. Logically nothing explains the sell-off -- nada, nichevo, nichts, rien. To imagine that Greece is going to pull down Britain, Germany and France is simply ridiculous.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

In celebration of the holiday, I thought it would be nice to remind investors not to forget about the opportunities in our southern neighbor. While Mexico is not a red hot emerging market like China or Brazil, there are still profits to be had there if you know where to look.

Here's why:

Devan Kaloo, of Aberdeen Asset Management foresees a 15% drop for stocks of developing countries. His fund is investing in the developing countries of Mexico, India and Turkey. He is neutral on Brazil and underweight on Russia.

He is holding fewer Chinese stocks because he feels that stock valuations in China are overdone. The $586 billion stimulus package is due to run out this year. The helped the Shanghai Composite Index to rise 80% last year. This year to date the index is down 6.4%.

Nineteen analysts from Bloomberg News forecast a rise in the Mexican peso, one of the cheapest currencies in emerging markets.

Let's look at some reasons why the peso is undervalued:

• Mexico's economy is closely tied to the U.S. With the U.S. economy on the rebound, analysts believe that Mexico's economy will follow suit.
• Mexico's economy shrank 6.2% in the third quarter, while the U.S. economy grew by 2.2%. Growth in the U.S. economy will filter down to Mexico.

America Movil (AMX - option chain) stock is trading lower today after the company said last night that it plans to make buyout offers for Telmex and Telmex Internacional in an effort to create a Mexican telecom giant with 250 million service subscriptions. Any deal would require approval from the Federal Competition Commission, Mexico's antitrust regulator, but billionaire Carlos Slim already controls each company and is looking to consolidate. If you think this stock won't be rising too far in the coming months, then it could be a good time to look at a bearish hedged play on AMX.

This morning, AMX opened at $47.75. So far today the stock has hit a high of $47.79 and a low of $46.75. As of 11:50, AMX is trading at $47.01, down $3.00 (-6.0%). The chart for AMX looks neutral and S&P gives AMX a neutral 3 STARS (out of 5) hold ranking.

Under the radar: Some trends are obvious enough and visible to all investors. Others are more-subtle, but are just as potent, and these often slip 'under the radar.'

Case in point: Saudi Arabia's oil exports to the United States have fallen to a 22-year low, at 745,000 barrels per day (bpd) in August, the latest month for which data is available, from 1.14 million bpd in July, according to data compiled by the U.S. Energy Information Agency. August's 745,000 bpd total is the lowest since December 1987. On a year-over-year basis (August 2008-August 2009), those exports are down about 50%.