Is it true that those holding bitcoins are actually driving the price down, and those spending, and making several transactions a day are actually moving the price up?
No no. Volume of trading does not tell anything about price. Low volume only says that the actors are content with their current holding levels (of bitcoins, of fiat and of different warez). When peoples valuations change, we will have trades.
Anyway, new users hearing about bitcoins and wanting to have some, is an example of change of valuations.