1. We haven't really had a huge surge this weekend. It's been quite measured. Look at the day chart - we have not surged in the same way as last weekend; we are actually back to following the trend that has been steady for over three weeks now.
2. China is looking less and less bad as the days go on. It is looking increasingly likely that as long as Bitcoin doesn't blow up too quickly they will let it continue (backed up by sources in China). The January 31 deadline has been talked about so much people have got used to it. Who knows but my bet is it will be an anti-climax on the day.
3. At the moment there is no reason to believe that the US will change its remarkably positive stance. Lawmakers and authorities are scrambling to make a place for Bitcoin in the mainstream.
4. The exchanges are doing a lot of work to conform to demands from authorities. Have a look at this thread in service discussion:
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/bitstamp-wanted-to-withdraw-money-and-was-hit-with-these-weird-kyc-questions-406908 Bitstamp for example is getting clients new and old to go through considerable KYC processes. Some people complain but why are they doing this? Because they are in for the long term and want to stick around as a big player on the exchange scene.
5. A hard fork or attempted double spending is not guaranteed at all. On the contrary I think people are working together to improve the security of the network.
You speak of "massive corrections" but I happen to think we do not need a correction. The China bubble is in fact a bump on the uptrend for 2014. I think in 2014 we will see the end of fast adrenalin-pumped run ups like we have seen in the past, and instead watch strong consistent growth with spikes here and there.
1. Well 830 to 890 over 24 hours leading into the weekend isn't what I could call measured, but who knows.
2. China. Ask yourself this: Would you be terribly surprised if BTC China, Huobi, etc all closed before the 31st? Honestly, I wouldn't. The Chinese gov't will curb stomp anyone who they perceive as a threat to their control over the people. All I'm saying is, we shouldn't take their continued presence for granted.
3. I'm surprised at the warm reception by the US Gov. I see it as short term positive, long term negative. Why? I speculate that their stance will change .. or it will remain positive but they will work behind the scenes to undermine confidence. I know that's a bit of a tinfoil hat theory, but I am skeptical that a government which relies on the sanctity of their fiat would embrace a technology designed to erode that sanctity. The only counter argument I have heard which resonates is that they see bitcoin as a new source of economic traction. Maybe, but you'd think they have more to lose than gain by people switching to an alternate currency.
4. It's good to see the exchanges shoring up their legal compliance, however, consider how much sway Slovenia has over the stability of Bitcoin at the moment.
5. Not sure about this. If someone has a vested interest in crushing Bitcoin, all they need to do is coerce those who run mining pools into bad behavior. If history proves anything, those with power will eventually become corrupted. The only way to fight this is to rely on transparent, unbreakable, unbendable protocols.
To sum it up, I don't like having to rely on humans behaving a certain way to ensure that my wealth will be secure (whether that be banks, law enforcement or miners). The reason I posted this was to reassure this guy that at least there is one guy (me) who thinks we will dip low enough for him to re-enter at what he considers a good price.