Thanks once again for the analysis. But, things changed rather rapidly after you posted - as @jl777 noted:

https://steemit.com/steemit/@jl777/300-btc-open-market-purchase-of-steem-spikes-price-to-00324

The linkie says it all :)

I'm actually wondering if the whale who made that huge 300 BTC buy was motivated by @smooth 's comment. Anyone else who want to upvote him for pointing out the reason why, it's the top comment in this post:

https://steemit.com/steemit/@me-tarzan/evening-update-steem-daily-data-8-15-2016