I think the price will top out at $1300 - $1500 within the next weeks and then decline to $600 - $700 over the next 2-3 months with the real blast off coming in the latter half of 2017

You're in the wrong place if you're seeking financial stability..
What will according to you cause the massive up swing to $1300-$1500 where later it plummets with ~50%? Differeces are too extreme without anything severe happening such as another exchanges getting hacked. In my view, the price dropping to $600-$700 without a reason would be weird unless it's pure manipulation. But that's something you and I can not see coming. And yes, if you look for whatever form of stability, then people are indeed better off looking for stability elsewhere. But I think quite some people beside noobs and rookies are already aware of that.
The reason I believe it can fall that low is panic, already people who bought high are nervous of the price falling, so a retrace of $800
may cause them to panic.
I don't really see a clear trend either way since last weeks decline, I think the enthusiasm for new years fireworks has died down somewhat, so a retrace followed by panic is possible in my opinion.
Human behaviour is one thing that hasn't changed since 2013