links for 2010-06-14

A gauge of risk has surged to the highest level in 15 months, signaling investors are reversing strategies of borrowing money in countries with low interest rates to invest in high-yielding assets, Barclays Plc said.

If these were normal times, Thursday's stock market thrust would have to be counted as a very bullish omen.

Copper is often referred to as the metal with a PhD in macroeconomics, since it finds its way into so many industrial applications, including automobiles, appliances, airplanes, pipes, wires, and even computer chips, to mention just a few of its uses. It acts as a top forecaster of where the global economy is heading next, especially China, the world’s economic locomotive. As such, copper is a favorite commodity for speculators in the markets, given its cyclical nature, and its volatility.

The United States has discovered nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan, far beyond any previously known reserves and enough to fundamentally alter the Afghan economy and perhaps the Afghan war itself, according to senior American government officials.