The price of Bitcoin continues to grow, and it recently hit values over $16,000. The cryptocurrency's values nearly doubled over the last two weeks. Institutional war chests are probably doing most of the movement at this point, considering that the market cap now reached nearly $300 billion. This raises the stakes for traders to new heights.

Different exchanges have been citing different prices over that time period. While everyone had the price of Bitcoin pegged at around $8,000 just 14 days ago, the Coinbase GDAX exchange approached the $19,000 mark. Most other exchanges had the price of Bitcoin positioned at a much lower value. These drastic differences are making it difficult to predict market fluctuations with any degree of certainty.

Ethereum may represent the future of credit, according to the cryptocurrency's founder Vitalik Buterin.

Like most other cryptos, Ethereum is based on the blockchain, a system that allows the currency to be hack-proof while simultaneously allowing every coin to be traced back to its origin point. This provides a level of secure transparency that Buterin believes can revolutionize security and economics.

The biggest stumbling block at present is the speed at which crypto transactions are processed. Bitcoin, the most well known cryptocurrency, processes about three transactions per second, while Ethereum is a little faster at five. Uber provides 12 rides a second, suggesting that cryptocurrencies need to process transactions much faster for large-scale commercial applications.

Great stock traders are not made by chance; rather they are the sum of 7 habits that separate them from the vast majority of stock traders who never make any money.

Observing truly great traders shows that if you stick to these habits in daily life, then you have a better chance of success. Not overnight, mind you, but over time.

Understanding everything that is involved in investing or trading small cap stocks takes study over a period of time. Many favor large cap stocks over small cap stocks because the brands are known. But which is better for you and your situation? Investing in small cap stocks is a great way to diversify your portfolio with some shares of lower capitalized companies. These stocks often offer better returns as they have higher beta values and move quicker than other stocks. Just be careful of the risks.

If you are looking to purchase and hold small cap stocks within mutual funds, understand that different funds define what is a small-cap stock in different ways.The traditional definition of a small-cap stock is one with the market capitalization between $300 million and $2 billion.

Not even health oriented online media is immune to consolidation. A company called Internet Brands, controlled by KKR, has recently announced intentions to acquire WebMD. KKR owns several other business to business websites in the areas of travel, law and automotive. It is a deal that has apparently been long in the making taking several bids for the acquisition to be accomplished.

WebMD is a well know health information website. It was founded in 1996 and became a public nearly a decade later. The Internet Brands business model involves helping health related businesses find customers. It also exists to help the public find appropriate health care. WebMD will note be a part of that process.

What are the top five Stocks that all investors should own in 2017? If you ask an investor this question, they will likely tell you to choose Dow Jones Industrial Average stocks. The Dow Jones is made up of 30 of the largest companies in America.

These companies have a solid history of strong performances and they tend to pay excellent dividends. This is why anybody should add it to their retirement portfolio.

If you cannot invest in the 30 components of the Dow, there are different ways to approach the situation. You can lean towards a tech, healthcare or financial based portfolio because the companies on the Dow Jones Industrial Average operate in those sectors. ETFs have also become a popular way to invest in the sectors for the Dow.

The Verizon acquisition of Yahoo has now officially closed and Yahoo's CEO, Marissa Mayer, has resigned her position. The acquisition, estimated to be worth more than $4 billion, received shareholder approval last week, with Mayer being granted a 'golden parachute' of approximately $23 million in her exit from the company.

Verizon has stated that it is planning to combine Yahoo with its AOL assets to create a subsidiary called Oath, which will cover more than 50 media brands and over 1 billion customers globally. Tim Armstrong, the former CEO of AOL, has been chosen to lead the new conglomerate.

It is expected that nearly 15 percent of all Yahoo staff will be cut as a result of the acquisition, with roles in areas such as operations, sales and marketing being affected. In addition, several Board members have left Yahoo in the wake of Mayer's departure, including Jane Shaw, Maynard Webb Jr., David Filo, Richard Hill and Eddy Hartenstein. Verizon has no shortage of staff, as it currently employs more than 160,000 people and earned approximately $126 billion in sales revenues in 2016.

The stock market is a brutal beast that is constantly moving and changing. Jim Cramer's guide uses charts to analyze the market price of a share of stock over it's history before jumping in to purchase it.

An investor does not buy a stock with the thought that the value will down after they buy shares. Cramer's idea is that by analyzing the ebbs and flows of a stock's price history over time a prospective buyer will have a better chance of finding a stock that will not fail. He is quoted as saying that looking at the history before buying is "like part of the homework" of buying stock.

Cramer often cites his own experience with the 2009 decline. Knowing when to buy and sell is the critical key in winning at the stock market battle. Cramer knew when to buy in 2009, and he looked around then to find the best stock for the time.

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.

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.