• $1,718 Glenn Beck was right or something source

• » This is worth keeping an eye on: With the U.S. dollar facing new scrutiny as a result of the S&P’s credit downgrade, gold prices will reflect more than ever as a bellwether of how investors feel about paper currency. And so far, it’s not looking good. (Note: Price above reflects per-ounce price of gold, which means that if you had a pound of gold sitting around your apartment, you’d have one really expensive paperweight.)

• We rip on the L.A. Times a lot for the massive amount of advertising it runs on its front page, on the front page of its Web site, and other places. One place we haven’t run them over the coals over is the article pages that often get linked on Google News. Above the ad is another 728×90 ad. So, in other words, you have FOUR ads above the fold. FOUR. And here’s a article about the dangers of buying precious metals from certain firms. And it’s surrounded by ads … that encourage you to buy precious metals. Whoever is on the staff of the ad side of the L.A. Times needs to do some serious thinking about the kind of precedent the heavy advertising creates for their paper. Because, we’ll tell you now – it’s not a good one. source

• Call it cause and side effect. The Federal Reserve, concerned about the slow domestic economic recovery, recently announced that they were going to shove $600 billion into circulation, a risky move that could help the economy recover – or put us on the way to Zimbabwe’s hyperinflation. (OK, maybe not that bad.) Anyway, in the wake of all of this, the international market has been freaking out, afraid that the world’s standard-bearer currency will lose value over time. Obama had to defend the Federal Reserve’s announcement in India today, and gold – which is already on a solid upswing of late – topped $1,400 an ounce today. source

• It’s this shepherd’s lucky day. He’s standing on so much lithium that he could power your laptop’s battery for decades to come. He doesn’t have to herd livestock in the worst place in the world anymore. There are $1 tRILLION dollars worth of precious metals to mine for. This is big. It could change the entire war and might even be enough to defang the Taliban, if it’s handled correctly. And it could make the value of Glenn Beck’s gold tip downward. (Thank God.) Some more details on the amazing find:

• $1
  trillion the amount of money the country is currently standing on
• $12
  billion the size of Afghanistan’s gross domestic product last year

Some obvious questions

• What’s down there? Lots of stuff, including iron, copper, cobalt, gold and lithium. An internal memo says Afghanistan could be the “Saudi Arabia of lithium.” Wow, nice metaphor.
• how long will it take? It might take a few years to put together the things needed to help Afghanistan take advantage of their vast resources. And the U.S. is already there.
• Current economic driver? Opium. Lots and lots of opium. Part of the reason terrorism is so strong in the region is because so much money comes from the opium trade and narcotics trafficking.

Did Afghanistan mine before?

• This is a country that has no mining culture. They’ve had some small artisanal mines, but now there could be some very, very large mines that will require more than just a gold pan.
• United States Geological Survey geologist Jack Medlin • On the sheer lack of mining history n the country. So why wasn’t this discovered before? Well, there were hints of it in prior Soviet-era documents, but for whatever reason, the potential was overlooked. No longer. The U.S. has spent too freaking long in this country not to start mining it for what it’s worth. It’s estimated that it’s going to take decades to reach their full potential of mining. This’ll be fun to watch. It’ll make their opium crops seem like a waste of time. source

• $1,251 per ounce of pure, golden gold source