Pemex, Mexico’s over-indebted, money-losing state-owned oil giant, appears to be in a state of terminal decline. To survive, it needs some last-minute reprieve or miracle...For the broader Mexican economy, Pemex’s woes are just part of the problem. With the overseas market for Pemex’s oil shrinking,...while the company’s production continues to crumble, Mexico will depend even more on its manufacturing sector but that too, is showing serious signs of strain.

You wouldn’t know it reading the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, or the other popular investment news sources . . . but thus far this year gold prices are up some 16 percent, making the yellow metal just about the top-performing investment asset class of 2016. We expect gold will continue to be one of the best – if not the best – investment-asset class in the months and years ahead. In fact, by this time next year, gold prices could challenge or even surpass their all-time high of $1,924 an ounce reached briefly in September 2011 and, as outlandish as it may seem, gold could double or even triple its historic high by the end of this decade.

I believe that the price of silver will eventually go over $100 a troy ounce and when that happens, those that got in today will be exceedingly happy with their returns. Others are projecting even greater gains. I am fully convinced that silver is a wonderful investment for the mid to long term.

On April 19th China introduced a yuan-denominated gold benchmark on the Shanghai Gold Exchange in a move to become an even bigger player in the global gold market. Gold transactions to be conducted without dollars, separate from the New York and London metals exchanges that have dominated the gold market for decades. Will that be bullish for gold as so many analysts think?]

Gold investors have been slow and cautious to adopt crypto-currencies such as bitcoin seeing them as false competition to real money such as gold and silver. The major argument from gold bugs has been that bitcoin is not backed by anything tangible [but] that has all changed with the recent introduction of Digix - the gold standard in peer-to-peer digital assets because it is literally backed by gold.

78% of NFL players, 60% of NBA players and a very large percentage of MLB players (4x that of the average U.S. citizen) file bankruptcy within five years of retirement. Let's take a look at 5 possible reasons why the average athlete is destined to go (quickly) from fame to shame.

I believe we’re much more likely to see another round of quantitative easing before we see a rate hike. John Williams of the San Francisco Fed hinted at this when he said the Fed could “clearly” lower rates again if needed, and use other tools “if necessary.”

Insider buying can be a strong indication of a mismatch between the current trading share price of a firm and its intrinsic value (what the shares should be trading at). Management, by far, has the best understanding of their business, and hence most often have the best opinions about valuation. Thus, purchasing their own stock is often a good sign for investors, which could be the case for shareholders of the companies on our list today.

You have alternatives for protecting your portfolio, and you can decide when you want to start. Here are a dozen choices.

Many of our return assumptions are now at or near post-crisis lows, with many expected returns below historical averages. These assumptions reflect high current valuations and lower global growth over the next five years, in line with a long, flat U.S. recovery.