http://bitbet.us/bet/508/btc-network-difficulty-to-top-500mn-before-xmas/

I think it'll be over 500 million, but that's assuming none of these ASIC companies turn into Avalon/BFL.

For the newbies, I think it'd be helpful if we could list common language that gets used on the forums here and it's definition.

For example: Share walls - when the owner of a company puts up a large number of new shares for sale. (Has the effect of capping the stock price at this value.)