Need to Know: Bitcoin’s on a tear above $5,000 — and these tech giants could spur it higher http://ift.tt/2xg6rXJ

Eat your heart out Jamie Dimon and those who mocked the guy who sold everything — shoes, even the kids toys — and moved his family to a campsite to wait for the bitcoin boom.

Well, he’s maybe doing a jig around the campsite this morning, as bitcoin shot past $5,000 earlier in Europe trading hours. It’s been fist-bumps and high-fives all around, and a few told-ya-so’s tossed in the direction of Wall Street:

Some say the FOMA (fear of missing out) is going to keep pushing this thing higher. In any case, here’s what that chart looks like now, as bitcoin rides the momentum well past $5,100.

BItcoin’s next leg higher?

It’s perhaps time to take another look at what former hedge fund manager Michael Novogratz had to say on Tuesday when he predicted bitcoin could hit $10,000 or more in the next six months. He’s setting up his own $500 million cryptocurrency fund. “I can hear the herd coming,” he told CNBC.

On to our call of the day from Naeem Aslam, who thinks he has a pretty good idea of what will take bitcoin into the stratosphere. “If Amazon successfully implements and brings bitcoin on their platform, it would only be a matter of time before we hear eBay making a similar announcement,” says Aslam, chief market analyst at Think Markets UK.

Indeed, there have been rumors about Amazon

AMZN, +0.79%

 making the holy-grail move — that is, accepting bitcoin on its platform.

“According to some who think the rumors are true, Amazon could make the announcement to accept Bitcoin as early as during their next investor call scheduled for October 26,” according to Giesbers Investments, in a blog post for Seeking Alpha.

But why stop there? Alibaba

BABA, +0.86%

 is Asia’s biggest online shopping platform, and it seems logical they’d accept it next, says Aslam.

“Retailers scrambled on Alibaba platform to sell their products, and its revenue for Single’s Day in 2016 ($17.8 billion) surpassed the previous year by $3.5 billion dollars. This really gives you the scope where the price of bitcoin could go, if Alibaba and eBay add bitcoin to their list,” he notes.

Now that we’ve got visions of bitcoin riches dancing in your head, it’s time to come back to earth a little. Wall Street managed a trifecta of closing records yesterday, but earnings season is about to land big time, and banks are in the spotlight. Watch J.P. Morgan Chase and Citi today.

Key market gauges

More records ahead? Maybe, but for now Dow

YMZ7, -0.11%

 , S&P 500

ESZ7, -0.19%

 and Nasdaq

NQZ7, -0.07%

 futures are drifting a bit lower. Gold

GCZ7, +0.74%

 and silver

SIZ7, +0.68%

 are up, while the dollar

DXY, +0.10%

 is struggling a bit after signs in yesterday’s Fed minutes that the central bank is a bit nervous about inflation. WTI crude

CLZ7, -1.47%

 and Brent

LCOZ7, -1.21%

 are taking a spill on glut worries.

Europe

SXXP, -0.13%

 is a mixed bag, while Asia markets

ADOW, +0.32%

 finished the day mostly higher.

See the Market Snapshot column for more.

The buzz

J.P. Morgan

JPM, -0.30%

 shares are getting dinged as earnings rise, but trading was weak. Citigroup

C, -0.32%

 is due to report. Domino’s

DPZ, -0.10%

 is also coming ahead of the open.

Read: Bank earnings — ‘Lower for longer’ means buybacks will continue

AT&T

T, -0.81%

 , J. Jill

JILL, -2.17%

 and Juniper Networks

JNPR, -1.65%

 each issued profit warnings late Wednesday, and they’re all taking a hit this morning.

Car Gurus

CARG, +0.00%

 is due to start trading on the Nasdaq Thursday after pricing its IPO shares above the expected range.

On the data docket, weekly jobless claims and producer prices are coming at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time.

The quote

President Donald Trump in Washington.

“So you could say, in one sense, we’re really increasing values. And maybe in a sense we’re reducing debt. But we’re very honored by it.” — That was President Donald Trump talking to Fox News’s Sean Hannity last night, suggesting that the stock market’s $5.2 trillion in gains since his election could perhaps offset the amount of national debt.

Random reads

A fire is burning in Napa, with some San Francisco smelling the smoke.

New York Times reporter tells how she broke the Harvey Weinstein story

Astronaut Scott Kelly on dumpster diving in space

Mandalay Bay staff didn’t call cops even after security guard was shot

Trump to start unwinding Obamacare with executive order today

Need to Know starts early and is updated until the opening bell, but sign up here to get it delivered once to your email box. Be sure to check the Need to Know item. The emailed version will be sent out at about 7:30 a.m. Eastern.

Follow MarketWatch on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook.

z\x