Never
Why are we the only ones saying this... seriously. I can't believe people really think it'll go back to $2 after all that's happened.
i truly think that Bitcoinica's short selling capabilities introduced in September caused an overshoot to the downside below the level of profitability for miners.
we had a classic double bottom or triple bottom depending on how you read the charts.
the strong rebound off $2 is telling you (or me at least) we will never go back there.
This, and the fact that there weren't many bids. People didn't know when it would stop, so the $$$ in Gox just sat on the sidelines, which in turn allowed the price to fall farther.
yes, a spiral down. question is; did all the short selling cause the bids to dry up?
Here's the problem with the BTC value: it's driven mostly by geeks with a few large holders of BTC. If any of those get spooked and decide to start selling, it can result in a panic sell that leaves us back in the $2 range. I don't see $2 happening any time soon, but then I also didn't see $4+ coming again, certainly not before 2012. It happened once, and all it will take is a similar set of circumstances and it can (and probably will -- several times) happen again.
People talk about fundamentals and such, but the people I know who are really into technology all think Bitcoin is a joke. "Okay, cool, a cryptocurrency" they say, "but what can I do with it?" As someone else pointed out in a different thread, the people putting money into Bitcoin are just transferring their money to the miners who are selling it off to pay for hardware/electricity. The idea that BTC is somehow going to become mainstream, or take over regular currencies, or whatever... no, I just don't see it. My feeling based on recent history is that BTC value is tied pretty closely to fiat values and the stock market. When those do well, BTC will trend up; if they do poorly, it goes down. Sure, there are exceptions, but I think there are people waiting for the new year before they do any serious investing -- they don't want to blow a bonus right at the end of the year, so they play it conservative, in stocks as well as in BTC.
I expect one way or the other, things will get a little chaotic around Jan 2. Are we going up or down, that's the real question. I'm inclined to say down. But the great thing is that if you naysayers are right, I don't have to pay out! ;-)