Last week, I was in Peru and Colombia with former president Bill Clinton and Frank Giustra in conjunction with the Clinton Giustra Enterprise Partnership. I've been involved with this impressive organization since its inception. I love how it brings together private companies, government and communities in developing regions of the world to eradicate poverty by growing jobs and training local workers.

As part of the trip, Clinton signed an agreement between the foundation and Peru's Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism to promote and reward hotels and restaurants that buy from local producers.

Each group will give $450,000 over the next three years to train local producers to become suppliers for Cusco's hospitality and restaurant sector. All told, suppliers should bring in more than $5 million in income over the next five years and benefit more than 1,800 people, according to the Clinton Foundation.

In Cartagena, Colombia, Clinton and Giustra celebrated the opening of a warehouse that will provide a local supply chain for the area's hospitality, restaurant, catering, and supermarket sectors, as well as the Acceso Training Center, which will train about 20,000 local residents over the next 10 years to work in the hospitality sector.

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Moving beyond Latin America, other U.S. Global portfolio managers are finding exciting opportunities on their travels. When Michael Ding recently traveled to Thailand, he immediately identified a potential investment as soon as the plane touched down in Bangkok.

And with emerging Europe growing faster than its western counterparts, Director of Research John Derrick, and Portfolio Manager Tim Steinle are headed to Warsaw and Prague to visit with local companies and management. We are optimistic about many expanding opportunities in this area of the world.

Back in the U.S., no one needs to travel far to see the tremendous growth in domestic stock prices. Over the last four years, the S&P 500 Index climbed 21 percent annually.

But how much further should you expect them to go? The Federal Reserve Bank of New York had the same thought and delved deep into data to find out.

Would it surprise you to learn that a vast majority of equity valuation models state that stocks should head much higher over the next five years?

This is research based on 29 different equity valuation models and surveys that use varying economic and market-related data such as dividends or inflation to calculate potential future returns. Using a weighted average, the New York Fed estimated the equity risk premium over the following month.

Simply stated, the equity risk premium is the expected future return of stocks minus the risk-free rate, such as a Treasury bill. For example, if the estimated future return of stocks is 5 percent and a Treasury bond yields 4 percent, the premium is the difference between the two figures, or 1 percent.

Looking back over five decades of annualized results, there's always some premium for stocks. This intuitively makes sense, because in exchange for taking higher risk, investors expect to receive higher returns.

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During these 50 years, the premium nearly fell to zero two times. One time was in 1987, when investors' exuberance toward the equity market caused stocks to rise quite sharply.

The most recent dip in the equity risk premium was at the height of the great tech boom in 2000. Many investors remember triple-digit price-to-earnings multiples. And some companies saw terrific price appreciation even though there were no reported earnings to be had at all. You'll remember Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan coining the phrase, "Irrational Exuberance."

Looking at the chart above, today we see an opposite picture. In fact, today's equity premium is at 5.4 percent, as high as it was in November 1974 and January 2009.

And what happened in these two time frames? Well, we saw the dramatic increase in equity prices from 2009 to today.

Back in the 1970s, investors experienced the collapse of the Bretton Woods system and "a terrible case of stagflation," says the Fed of New York. However, that didn't stop the stock market, as gains were incredible, increasing nearly 15 percent on an annualized basis from 1974 to 1979.

The chart illustrates a tremendous case for U.S. stocks over the next five years. Make sure your portfolio is poised to participate.

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All opinions expressed and data provided are subject to change without notice. Some of these opinions may not be appropriate to every investor. The S&P 500 Stock Index is a widely recognized capitalization-weighted index of 500 common stock prices in U.S. companies.

Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it. I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Most recently, Moody's Investors Service validates our opinion of Turkey as the rating agency upgraded the country's credit rating from Baa3 to Ba1 with a stable outlook.

The move brings about the long-awaited second investment grade rating, following Fitch's upgrade in November 2012. The agency highlighted the recent and expected improvements in finance metrics, as well as noticeable progress on structural and institutional reforms.

In addition, Turkey's central bank cut rates by 50 basis points, exceeding analyst expectations as it seeks to contain currency appreciation. The lira has been strengthening as capital inflows seeking to benefit from the country's promising economic growth remain strong.

Local stocks historically received a boost in the months following an upgrade. The table below shows HSBC Global Research's chart of the performance of the Philippines' equity market following its credit upgrades. One month after the rating upgrade, stocks rose an average of 2 percent. In the three months after its upgrade, stocks climbed 10.3 percent, on average.

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Turkey stands among the strongest countries to benefit from current global easing. Internally, inflation is well under control, and domestic consumption is unabated. Furthermore, the country's stock market continues to trade on a cheaper price to earnings valuation when compared to countries like Mexico, Malaysia, and Thailand, says HSBC. Hence, there is ample reason to believe the Turkish equity market should continue to outperform.

Samuel Pelaez, analyst at U.S. Global Investors, contributed to this commentary.

Please consider carefully a fund's investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. For this and other important information, obtain a fund prospectus by visiting usfunds.com or by calling 1-800-US-FUNDS (1-800-873-8637). Read it carefully before investing. Distributed by U.S. Global Brokerage, Inc.

Foreign and emerging market investing involves special risks such as currency fluctuation and less public disclosure, as well as economic and political risk. By investing in a specific geographic region, a regional fund's returns and share price may be more volatile than those of a less concentrated portfolio.

The Emerging Europe Fund invests more than 25 percent of its investments in companies principally engaged in the oil & gas or banking industries. The risk of concentrating investments in this group of industries will make the fund more susceptible to risk in these industries than funds which do not concentrate their investments in an industry and may make the fund's performance more volatile.

Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.

Here's another comparison that answers this classic question.

Research firm Commerzbank's strategists recently compared the price of gold starting in 2002 to the price of Brent crude oil starting in 1998 and the NASDAQ Composite from 1990. Immediately following each index's record highs, oil and tech stocks declined sharply. Within nine months, tech stocks had halved in price, while it took only three months for oil to lose half its price, says Commerzbank. You can see the dramatic rise and fall of each index on the chart below.

In contrast to oil and tech, gold has been level-headed over the past decade. Nearly 20 months after its peak, gold has fallen only about 25 percent, and its path remains in line with Brent and the NASDAQ after their bubbles burst.

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In Commerzbank's opinion, a comparison between the current situation in gold and the former bubbles is superfluous at best.

Download a copy of What's Driving Gold now.

The Nasdaq Composite Index is a capitalization-weighted index of all Nasdaq National Market and SmallCap stocks.

Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.

In its new report, the University of Texas at San Antonio provides more than just a satellite view of oil production in the area.

First, take a look at Texas' overall crude oil production during the past few decades. Since hitting about 2.6 million barrels of oil per day in 1981, production began slowly declining, bottoming to just over 1 million barrels per day during the early part of this century, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Over the past few years, though, daily production has gone vertical, with the state pumping out more than 2.2 million barrels each day. Production has grown so rapidly, that if Texas were a country, it would be the 13th largest oil-producing nation in the world, based on international crude oil output from November, says Mark Perry in his Carpe Diem blog.
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The primary driver of this incredible lift has been the Eagle Ford formation, an area 50 miles wide and 400 miles long. According to the UTSA's Center for Community and Business Research, oil out of Eagle Ford has increased from about 5 million barrels to more than 110 million barrels in a matter of only two years.
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This huge boom in oil production has had a tremendous economic impact on Texas as well. UTSA's report calculates that within a 20-county area, the Eagle Ford Shale added more than $61 billion in economic impact in 2012. This number includes 14 counties that have actively producing wells, along with six counties that experience indirect activity from the Eagle Ford area.

According to UTSA, Eagle Ford is expected to continue contributing to the area over the next several years. "The region will support 127,000 jobs and produce an economic impact of $89 billion for Texas in 2022," says the report.

We believe these economic bright lights have created significant opportunities for natural resources investors. See how you can access this trend.

Read more:
Download your copy of UTSA report here.

Read The Significant Impact of U.S. Oil Production.

See how investors can benefit from rising oil production.

By clicking the link above, you will be directed to a third-party website. U.S. Global Investors does not endorse all information supplied by this website and is not responsible for its content.

She was the first woman to lead a major Western democracy, and now, in 2012, businesses worldwide have more women sitting in board rooms and at executive tables "than at any time since 2010," reports Grant Thornton. What is fascinating for global investors is to see how countries differ in the proportion of women in senior management.

According to its study, Grant Thornton found that China leads the world, with 51 percent of senior management positions held by women. This is a sharp increase from the previous year, where only 25 percent of women were in senior management. China's not the only Asian country ahead of the curve. Thailand, Vietnam, Taiwan and Hong Kong also show up on the list below, with 30 percent or more of businesses with senior positions held by women.

Emerging European countries also have "healthy representations of women occupying senior decision-making roles," says Grant Thornton. Poland is a close second to China, with 48 percent, followed by Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania.

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While the growth in women holding senior positions in the U.S. increased in 2012, the country still lags much of the world, with only 20 percent of its senior management held by women. The nation falls to the bottom in the worldwide ranking, alongside Japan (7 percent), United Arab Emirates (11 percent), and several European countries, including Netherlands (11 percent), Switzerland (14 percent), United Kingdom (19 percent), Ireland (21 percent) and Spain (21 percent).

There are many more insightful statistics in Grant Thornton's 12-page report and you can download a copy at their site here.

From Margaret Thatcher to Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg to South Korea's first female president, Park Geun-hye, I believe governments and corporations thrive when they welcome diverse thought-leadership and ideas.

U.S. Global Investors has been at the forefront of this trend, hiring leaders who share our corporate values, including having initiative, a respect for people and teamwork, a focused work ethic and a curiosity to learn and improve. I'm proud that two of three top leadership positions are held by President and General Counsel Susan McGee and Chief Financial Officer Catherine Rademacher. In addition, U.S. Global has several female executives throughout the company who lead departments, including accounting, human resources, marketing and shareholder services.

By clicking the link above, you will be directed to a third-party website. U.S. Global Investors does not endorse all information supplied by this website and is not responsible for its content.

In 2015, when the infrastructure build-out is complete, China's subway track alone will be a mind-boggling 1,900 miles, according to JP Morgan.

The Asian giant has been in the midst of constructing the world's largest transportation system, laying mile after mile of high-speed rail and subway track. According to the World Metro Database, Beijing and Shanghai currently have the longest metro and subway systems, with about 275 miles each. The city of Guangzhou in China also falls in the top 10, with 144 miles of rail, beating Paris' network length of 135 miles.

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This ambitious program is part of the pragmatic solution to help 1.3 billion residents move around the country efficiently and reduce the increasing problem of air pollution due to car emissions in big cities including Beijing.

The circulating reports and photos of Beijing's smog have recently become a dark cloud hanging over the country's remarkable achievements, but it's not a new issue. In the winter, smog conditions can seem much worse. Pollutants tend to linger when the air is heavier and colder compared to lighter, warmer air during the summer. In addition, the city is located near the Gobi Desert and has always been subject to sand and dirt storms, even back in the days when it was called Peking.

The U.S. experienced similar sand storms during the Dust Bowl in the 1930s, which caused catastrophic ecological and agricultural damage to the American prairies and made the economic impact of the Great Depression much worse. Sixty-five percent of the topsoil was blown away and millions of people were left homeless.

Industrialization in Beijing has certainly aggravated the matter, but Beijing is not the first city suffering from its horrible haze. The London smog of 1952 caused 12,000 total deaths, resulting in the Clean Air Act of 1956, and according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Manhattan suffered particularly poor air quality in the 1960s, affecting the eastern edge of the U.S.

Because of the government's concerted effort to encourage consumption and help its residents achieve a higher standard of living in previous five-year plans, new cars congested the roads as fast as they were paved. Over the past decade, sales accelerated from less than 5 million vehicles in 2002 to nearly 20 million in 2012. About 114 million automobiles are now registered to Chinese residents, with ownership exceeding 1 million across 17 Chinese cities.

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As we've discussed many times, the country is also the world's largest energy consumer, with a huge dependence on fossil fuels, especially coal. You may think that the country's use of coal would be the single largest factor driving air pollution, but, in Beijing, emissions from vehicles make up a bigger percentage. One-fifth of the fine particulate matter, which is made up of nitrates and sulfates, organic chemicals, metals and dust particles, comes from automobile and truck emissions in the city, according to JP Morgan. Across the entire country, automobiles cough out 27 percent of total nitrogen oxide emissions.

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With residents dealing with increasing cancer-causing pollutants and vehicle congestion on roads, public discontent is rising, "adding particular urgency to causes such as environmental protection and public sector reform," says JP Morgan.

China's government policies were already addressing air pollution by "requiring thermal power plants to install desulphurization systems and progressively increasing vehicle-emission standards," according to the research firm. As one recent example, last May, I discussed Beijing's additional subsidies devoted to energy-efficient products, including fuel efficient cars, LED lighting, and high-efficiency motors.

This year, leaders appear ready to continue these environmental priorities. In comparison to last year's budget, a larger portion of government spending will go toward environmental programs. While other areas will see a decrease in spending compared with last year, spending on environmental protection is projected to grow nearly 19 percent, says JP Morgan.

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With a concrete plan and a budget in place, it all boils down to execution and enforcement. And in March, the once-in-a-decade transfer of power became official, as the National People's Congress in China elected Li Keqiang as premier and Xi Jinping as president.

Xi now holds the three most powerful titles in elite Chinese politics: the Secretary General of the Party, the Chairman of Military Commission and President of the Nation. This "triple-power strength" positions him as an ideal reformer for China. He may likely have little interference from former leaders, giving him a freer hand to tackle some of the growth challenges in China today, including reforms to improve environmental protection.

We look forward to watching these leaders in action.

For global investors interested in capturing potential opportunities, we suggest two areas: 1) wind power generators, such as Huaneng Renewables Corp (958:[[HK]]) and China Datang Corporation Renewable Power Company, and 2) solar companies, including market leader and low-cost producer of solar grade polysilicon GCL- Poly Energy Holdings, and China Singyes Solar Technologies Holdings, an installation company for office solar system in China.

U.S. Global Investors, Inc. is an investment management firm specializing in gold, natural resources and emerging markets opportunities around the world. The company, headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, manages 13 no-load mutual funds in the U.S. Global Investors fund family, as well as funds for international clients.

For more updates on global investing from Frank and the rest of the U.S. Global Investors team, follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/USFunds or like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/USFunds. You can also watch exclusive videos on what our research overseas has turned up on our YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/USFunds.

The following security mentioned was held by one or more of U.S. Global Investors Funds as of 12/31/12: China Singyes Solar Technologies Holdings

Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it. I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.