Bitcoin breakout? What about Altcoins? Steem?

If you are invested in #bitcoin or #steem, or anything in between, but are somewhat new to trading in general, there is a name for what we have been experiencing the past month and a half. It is called #consolidation. Nothing goes up in a straight line, especially something that is traded between people. Doubly so if that thing that is traded has gone up parabolically.
From November 13th (last year) to December 7th (last year), Bitcoin went from $5700 to $16000 with just one day's rest in the middle. That's almost a 300% gain in just 25 days. That is insane. It is a parabolic increase in price.
Some naysayers who apparently do not know very much about trading called it a bubble. That is simply nonsense. What that kind of price increase is is simply put - TOO FAST. And whatever goes up that fast, simply has to come down.
10 days later, on December 17th of last year, Bitcoin reached it's all time high of $19,200.
And, it seems to have been dropping since.
I won't give you a course on reading charts here, just want to say that it simply had to drop. And for the past month and a half, the price has been consolidating. The bottom of $10,000 seems to have been put in, and from 10 days ago, we have been seeing a steady increase in price, with what traders call higher-lows.
Bitcoin is primed to breakout out of what is called a bull-flag pattern. This is what you are seeing in the next chart:

In almost all likelihood, it is headed up from where we are now, at about $11,500. How high it will go is anyone's guess at this point, but retraces are known to be very quick. We might see $20,000 again in a matter of days.
What is really important for you to know is that the sky is not the limit, and anyone touting, "To the moon," is simply someone to filter out of your thoughts. Nothing can go up in a straight line, everything comes down, even if later it resumes its climb. But, we could easily see another 100% or even 200% increase in price over the next month or two.

When prices go down in a market, we know from experience that there is almost 100% correlation between the various parts of the market. So as Bitcoin consolidated around $10,000, all other #altcoins suffered the same fate. But, when the breakout begins, all correlations are off. It's every man (or woman, or altcoin) for himself. Every altcoin project will begin to gain (or continue to lose) based on its own merits. If you believe in STEEM for instance, that will be the time to really invest in it.
In fact, #STEEM has already made a break out of its own bull-flag pattern. That's a very good sign, and strengthens the argument that Bitcoin is about ready to break out as well. Take a look at STEEM breaking out in the past few days, ahead of the pack of other Altcoins:

So where does this all leave us? Watch bitcoin levels. The moment we break above the green descending line in a convincing manner (say we reach $12,000 per bitcoin), the next bull run has probably started. When it does, I will be buying more altcoins (I have no real interest in bitcoin for a variety of reasons, which I will share in an upcoming post).

Disclaimer: None of the above should be taken as investing advice as I have no professional training in this area. It is meant for educational purposes only. If you decide to invest in any of the instruments discussed, you do so at your own discretion alone. When making investment decisions, take the time and invest the money in seeking professional advice.