There's no certain time on when will the alts or even main coins/tokens will become positive to be honest. Some alts are worth trading like shorting everyday, some are good for holding and selling when the right time comes, some are good on both (ex. BTC, ETH & XRP). In short, you can do both but make sure you already know what coins/tokens to invest. Always buy the dips and have a lot of patient. Buy low, sell high, that's the most common word for trading, also make sure you store your crypto on a right & safe wallet.