The Big Boys of the tech sector are at it once again.Apple (AAPL) shares are falling on the heels of a downgrade by Mizuho Securities’ Abhey Lamba, and the rest of the tech mega caps are inching lower.The pair, who rate Amazon at an overweight, lifted their price target from $1,050 to $1,200, arguing that the e-commerce giant’s unit growth will not decelerate in the current second quarter as it did the previous quarter.In fact, the pair describe Amazon as the “best positioned large-cap Internet platform for the next five years.” Proprietary analysis of Google search trends from our PJC Data Analytics platform indicates Amazon retail unit growth will likely see little to no deceleration in Q2'17 vs.the 24% experienced in Q1'17.Street estimates also assume little to no FXN retail revenue deceleration; therefore, our analysis suggests Amazon retail is tracking for an in-line quarter.This proprietary analysis has 0.95 correlation with reported unit growth and is, in our view, the strongest indicator of QTD trends for Amazon.

We believe strength in retail unit growth is being driven by share gains from Prime Now, continued tailwinds from Prime adoption, international expansion/penetration, and hardware tailwinds (Echo).It’s a big call -- one that predicts Amazon’s stock price will climb 23% over the next 12 months, and return to the rarefied air it breathed just a few weeks ago when the shares hit $1,000 for the first time.Like other mega-cap tech stocks, Amazon got hit by last week’s Nasdaq selloff, which also deflated names like Facebook (FB), Microsoft (MSFT) and Alphabet (GOOGL).On Friday alone, the Nasdaq dropped nearly 2% as analysts weighed in on whether it’s wise to “stay with tech.” Amazon also faces new competition from Wal-Mart Stores (WMT), which has invested heavily in building up its on-line business.At a recent $969.50, Amazon’s stock is down 0.9% in recent market action and has lost more than 4% over the past five trading sessions.Latest In Techtraderdaily BlogDigital currency outperformed all its central-bank-issued counterparts in 2016 with 125% rise in value A bar in Sydney, Australia.

Bitcoin’s rise may have been boosted by higher demand in China on the back of a fall in the yuan.Photograph: David Gray/Reuters Digital currency outperformed all its central-bank-issued counterparts in 2016 with 125% rise in value Bitcoin has started 2017 with a bang, with its value hitting a three-year high of more than $1,000 (£815).The nascent digital currency, which has been criticised as a vehicle for a range of nefarious characters from drug dealers to tax evaders to operate, outperformed all its central-bank-issued counterparts with a 125% climb in value in 2016.bitcoin in un giornoMarket watchers have suggested that the soaring value may have been boosted in the past year by increased demand in China on the back of a 7% fall in the value of the yuan; this was the Chinese currency’s weakest annual performance in more than 20 years.ethereum waves

Data show most bitcoin trading is done in China, according to Reuters.The currency is used to move money across the globe quickly and anonymously and is free of control from any central bank or government, making it attractive to those who want to get around capital controls.It is also may appeal to those worried about a shortage of cash, as in India where the prime minister, Narendra Modi, removed high-denomination banknotes from circulation in November.bitcoin maker a scam“The growing war on cash and capital controls is making bitcoin look like a viable, if high-risk, alternative,” said Paul Gordon, a board member of the UK Digital Currency Association and co-founder of Quantave, a firm that seeks to make it easier for institutional investors to access digital currency exchanges.bitcoin profitability calculator

Bitcoin is still some way off its all-time high of $1,163 reached on the Bitstamp exchange in late 2013, but there are now many more bitcoins in circulation: 12.5 are added to the system every 10 minutes.Its total worth is at a record high of more than $16bn, putting its value at around the same as that of an average FTSE 100 company.During its last surge in 2013, bitcoin boomed as users and speculators rushed to invest in a currency that was supposedly about to become a platform for a disruptive new financial services industry.litecoin mining with two different cardsIts value increased tenfold in two months in late 2013, but after a hack on the Tokyo-based Mt Gox bitcoin exchange it plunged to less than $400 in the following weeks.bitcoin apk hackBitcoin’s value is at an all-time high again.kraken bitcoin fees

Following the hype peak and crash in 2011, many seemed to have thought it was just another dotcom fluke.But bitcoin was much more than that, and it has returned with a vengeance – its market cap is now twice what it was in the 2011 peak, and it is nowhere near its potential, which is four orders of magnitude above today’s value.In this, a lot of people are confused at the fact that bitcoin has climbed 200% since the start of this year alone, and wonder what to make of it.bitcoin in zurichIt is currently at $41.50 and climbing fast, and I see a lot of people just looking at the numbers and guessing from charts how things will pan out.buat bitcoinI am seeing guesses of $50, $100, $150, even $1,000.These numbers seem pulled out of thin air from just looking at the charts – nobody seems to have done due diligence from the other direction, from the most fundamental observation of all: Bitcoin is a transactional currency.

As such, it is competing for market share on the transactional currency market.Talking about bitcoin value is not about happily watching numbers go up and down while having popcorn.This is about identifying a global market, looking at its size and estimating a target market share based on the strengths and weaknesses of the competing product or service under analysis.When you know the size of the target market, and have an estimate for your projected market share, you can estimate the value of your product or service as a percentage of the value of the total market.I haven’t seen anybody do that for bitcoin.The total size of the transactional currency market is hard to estimate, but has been pegged at about $60 trillion (the amount of money in circulation worldwide).Seeing how this number is roughly on par with the world’s GDP, it is a reasonable enough number to be in the right ballpark.Based on my four earlier estimates (one, two, three, four), I think it is reasonable that bitcoin captures a 1% to 10% market share of this market.

The low end of 1% would be if it captures international and internet trade.The 10% would be if bitcoin also manages to capture some brick-and-mortar retail trade, which we are already seeing strong signs that it might – operations provide a 3% to 5% extra profit margin on sales when you can cut out the credit card processors, so the incentive to switch is immense: those 3% to 5% cost savings translate to 50% to 100% increased profits, as margins are typically very slim in retail.Furthermore, some people will undoubtedly invest in bitcoin and keep their portion of bitcoin away from the transactional pool, like all people tend to hoard money if they are able.This decreases the amount of bitcoin that must fulfill the market share, further driving up value for each individual bitcoin.As a rough estimate, let’s assume that only one in four bitcoins is actually used in transactions, and the rest are in some kind of savings or investment plans.This leads us to a target market cap of 600 billion to 6 trillion USD, to be fulfilled by about 6 million bitcoin, which makes for easy calculations.

That means that each bitcoin would be worth $100,000 at the low market cap and $1,000,000 at the high market cap.In the light of this, present-day projections of $100 that present themselves as “daring and optimistic” actually come across as rather shortsighted and almost dealing with peanuts.So is the projected market share realistic?Bitcoin certainly has hurdles to overcome – scalability and usability being two of them – but it has done remarkably well in maturing in the two years since I started looking at it.My prediction of a mainstream breakthrough around the year 2019 remains, and it still depends on getting mainstream usability; a target market cap may be reached about a decade after that happens, as a technology typically takes ten years from mainstream breakthrough to maturity.Now, there are definitely uncertainties in this projection and its assumptions – but it does indicate what kind of ballpark we are talking about.The author has a significant investment in bitcoin.