The value of Bitcoin recently surpassed $2000.

The most famous cryptocurrency on the planet now has a per coin value of more than $2000. That is what several bitcoin exchanges are reporting, such as Kraken and Coinbase. This valuation indicates that the total bitcoin market cap (i.e. the total value of coins in use) is $32.92 billion.

This year, bitcoin has thrived - as this Coindesk chart reflects.

In 2013, bitcoin initially surpassed the $1000 valuation, however a range of variables - such as the problems experienced by Mount Gox (which was the leading exchange at the time) - meant that the currency dropped in value. Financial organizations tested blockchain and bitcoin based services during this period, and new Chinese regulations increased overall stability. This led to bitcoin returning to the $1000 mark by the end of 2016. Ever since, its' value has constantly grown throughout 2017.

Professor Aswath Damodaran, based at New York University's Stern School of Business, recently participated in a Google discussion session which focused on the value of using stories in business. The discussion centered on how businesses value their stocks by having a compelling story that justifies its financial assumptions.

Professor Damodaran explained how stocks can become runaway stories, which is basically a story that investors firmly believe in. This may lead to them avoiding asking important questions about the company.

He used Tesla Inc (TSLA) as an example of a runaway story, explaining how he had written an analysis of the company in September 2013, in which he estimated Tesla's stock value to be only $67.12 per share even though it was trading at over $168 per share at that time.

Trending today is the announcement from Rob Sanderson, an MKM analyst, that the cloud business operated by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) could be worth $20 billion in five years, with an additional two or three billion dollars in other Asian countries. If this is the case, Alibaba's cloud business has immense growth potential and analysts are currently suggesting that it is worth one billion dollars annually with 115% growth rate annually.

Wednesday was a trending day for Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC) after Berkshire Hathaway shared that 7.134 million of the bank's shares were sold between April 10 and 12. Further to those 7 million shares, Berkshire also plans to divest an additional 1.865 million shares at some point in the future. Berkshire is selling because under federal regulations, the holdings of any single shareholder of a large bank must be below 10% and Buffet's company had owned 479 million shares at the end of last year. The selling is not because it is bearish on the bank. This works well good for the Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC) bulls. Since Wels Fargo was re-buying its stock, Berkshire's holdings did increase over the 10% limit, so Buffett's firm sold to stay within the limit.

After CNN reported on President Donald Trump signing an executive order today, First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) is now in the spotlight. This order curbs enforcement by the U.S. federal government of various climate regulations. Mr. Trump does this to help make American jobs a priority and that is more important to him than trying to stop global temperature changes. This order will also start a Federal review process that sill investigate the Clean Power Plan initiative that may result in the loosening of regulations. a large number of traders anticipate that Trump's policies will lean in favor of coal, oil and gas industries and that renewable energy solutions such as wind and solar power will be left behind.

In a separate event this morning, Philip Shen of Roth Capital has lowered the target price from $37 per share to $29 due to anticipated short-term earnings headwinds.

As indicated by pre-market trading, traders are brushing off this news. Shares of First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) are up by 1% on light volume. It appears that investors have priced in today's news effects.

Trump Falls 220 Places on the Forbes Billionaire List

Since taking over the presidential office, Donald Trump is poorer to the tune of $1 billion, according to the list of worldwide billionaires published by Forbes.

The most recent list, which the magazine released on Monday, showed that Trump's wealth had dropped from $4.5 billion in 2016 to $3.5 billion now. This represents a fall of 220 places from the magazine's billionaire list last year, from number 336 to number 544.

While Trump stopped working on his businesses upon entering office, his fall is not due to selling his businesses off.

Instead, Trump's wealth has reduced because roughly forty percent of it originates from properties he owns in New York, such as Trump Tower and several other properties nearby.

Boost Savings with Great Federal Programs

It is difficult for millions of people in America to save money for the future.  Forbes magazine recently published a report stating the approximately sixty-three percent of people in America claim they have difficulties in saving one thousand dollars in case of an emergency.

Struggles for so much of the population prompted the United States federal government to discover new ways of helping this situation.  These agencies developed many new programs specifically designed for encouraging people of every age to start saving money.

Several popular programs are to follow.

Save Money for College

For those wishing to attend college in the near future, take full advantage of plan 529. The plan 529 creates tax savings designed for college students to pay their tuition.
The entire fifty states along with the District of Colombia have both sponsored a minimum of one variation of the 529 plan.

New 2017 tax Laws - The Things to Note

2017 is the year of change in many ways. Although the Trump administration has pledged numerous tax changes, there are pre existing changes included in the law that can affect your 2017 tax returns (which you submit in April 2018). Also, there are other changes that affect your taxes for 2016, which come into force in 2017. These are the key changes to bear in mind:

Timing of tax credits -- The 2015 PATH (Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes) Act states that the IRS is forbidden from sending out refunds or credits for overpayments before February 15th, whenever the EITC (Earned Income Tax Credit) or ACTC (Additional Child Tax Credit) is claimed on returns. This policy comes into force on January 1st, 2017. It does not affect the amount of your 2016 return, however it might reduce your cash flow, in the event that you wanted a reasonably early return to settle bills.

Limited Stores, the well-known women's fashion retailer, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Tuesday of this week, and will be closing all of its stores. Based in New Albany, New York, the retailer will now be under the receivership of Sycamore Partners, a New York private-equity firm that is buying the store's intellectual property rights and other assets. The bankruptcy filing and sale are pending approval from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware.

The chain announced a month ago that more than 240 employees would be laid off at its New Albany headquarters as a result of the sale, with both the CFO (John Buell) and Chief Executive Office (Diane Ellis) leaving in late 2016. The company also released a statement on January 6 stating that the site TheLimited.com, would continue to be in operation once the stores have closed. However, once the bankruptcy filing was made, a message was posted on the website indicting that it would be down temporarily.

Tips for Buying Oil Stocks in 2017

After taking a beating for over two years, the oil industry is making a comeback helped by OPECs plans to cut production by 1.2 million barrels daily. The reduction is expected to be in place by the end of January, 2017. Reports recently received from Saudi Arabia, the second largest industry producer behind Russia, show a production cut of 486,000 barrels daily since January 1. This is de-facto evidence that the production cut is in effect already. Information from the Energy Information Administration in the U.S. also shows a reduction in U.S. stockpiles of 7.1 million barrels in the week ending December 30, 2016. This is another indicator predicting an upcoming increase in global oil markets and stock values.