Currently Bitcoin and most other altcoins are in a semi-bullish market, meaning they are either trading sideways, or they are on a slow rise.
We recently tested a resistance range at between $7,400-$7,600 and are now holding relatively strong above $8,000. All indicators are green right now, suggesting that this trend is likely to continue at least for the short term. Usually when you have a situation like this, it is an excellent time to get into the market as you stand with a significant chance of gaining value on your investment. Obviously some coins will appreciate in value more than others, whilst some will act against the trend and go into the red. Common consensus is that the next support level is ~$9,200, if we see a slow climb past this level we will likely see a bull run past $10,000 shortly after.
In order to succeed in the market you need to understand what is causing the price fluctuations you see on a daily basis, here I'll share an excellent site that gives you literally minute to minute updates on the latest trends and news for cryptocurrency -
https://cryptopanic.com/Yes the website isn't pretty, but its interface makes it simple to navigate, and doesn't distract you from the only thing that matters - news updates. Once you've got the hang of using cryptopanic, it will be simple to make some cursory predictions about where you think the price will go from there. Beyond this I will share some general trading tips that I have noted throughout the years, I think some of these will be very helpful in your journey
1. Price flucutations hit low volume exchanges first. Contrary to popular belief, low volume exchanges tend to see the wildest changes in price due to sometimes extreme scarcity that results due to positive/negative news. Although Bittrex and Binance might seem to be the most appealing due to their absolute liquidity, smaller sites such as HitBTC are often the most profitable.
2. Usually during a dump or pump, Bitcoin is hit first, followed immediately by the top 10. If you see Bitcoin gain 7-10% in a day, the odds are that ETH/NEO/Monero and other top level coins will see a slightly more than 7-10% gain, as strong alts often do well against BTC in bull runs. This should be something you keep in mind, as it can even be seen right now -
https://www.coinmarketcap.com, notice that many alts are more green than BTC.
3. If you simply don't have the time to learn all the technical analysis and trend predictions necessary to truly succeed at trading, you can always defer your judgement to certain signals groups. Note that you will need to be very careful to select a group that has a proven track record of success, as most of these turn out to be pump/dump groups in disguise. Also, there are automated trading bots such as GunBot and Eonbot that will automate your exchanges based on certain parameters, such as the moving average strategy, ping-pong or rollercoaster strats. For these, you simply need to understand how the strategy works, and set limits to ensure you stay within a profitable range. Certainly easier to get into than TA, nowhere near as profitable, and quite easy to lose money if you're not careful.
Good luck buddy, I genuinely wish you the best. I hope this information helps somebody out there as I know I could have used information like this when I first started trading.