The halving effect will start from May 2019 when people start to accumulate. The price starts to rise and miners will also return increasing the difficulty as a result. Dec 2019 will certainly be a good time for bitcoin hodlers (better than it was in 2018)
No. First off, halving effects don't happen before the actual halving, they happen afterwards as the market adjusts to the new lesser amount of newly mined coins being offered on exchanges. Secondly, accumulation periods are not marked by increased prices, they are marked by sideways prices after a true bottom is reached. I doubt very seriously if the true bottom of this bear market has been reached.