(4th year still not profitable) Wow, 2300 views on the first day! Looks like you might have a lot of company out there!! So don't feel pregnant. Work at it just that much harder to make your 5th year the start of your new and successful trading life.
Reading algos in the order book and trading off the back of them, trading correlations between markets, calendar spreads, paying a lot of money for news services and trading off the back of central bank comments etc, investing in algorithmic execution technology... and a lot of averaging to be honest.
As you have tried so many systems and patterns, it must be that you haven't decided what you need to find. Your search will continue for ever until you decide that. There are basically only two strategies - follow or fade - i.e. following the trend or trading the reversal. Trend-following demands patience, planning, discipline, building positions, a lot of waiting for set-ups, accepting a lumpy and unpredictable income. It is low risk, modest return, low risk of wipe-out. Trading reversals demands decisiveness, quick responses to unexpected situations with incomplete information, opportunism, real-time price monitoring, spontaneity, imagination. This is high risk, dramatic return, risk of wipe-out. Personalities can be divided into these two types. trade the right style for your own personality. Whatever you do, stop day-trading. It is highest risk, low return, astronomical probability of wipe-out.
What I would expect but I do not understand the last part: "...a lot of averaging to be honest" Do you mean adding to a losing position, within your risk parameters when there is an edge? I think this is what you mean but I do not want to assume. Every post you made in this thread is full of really good stuff!
Yup exactly that. Not averaging into oblivion, we all have hard stops on the day where if it gets to "x" we are out.. the guys that don't have that will always eventually blow up. But when you are experienced you know your edge and why things work or don't work and are comfortable adding to positions that are losing. A typical prop trader will be profitable probably 80% of the days. But the losing days generally larger than their winning days because of the averaging. The numbers still add up though. Trend following you tend to be all in or all out with a tight stop because they have low win rates. But most people are looking for high probability setups with the occasional big loss and average around the core position.
How come the OP hasn't come back here to express his a) willingness to die and b) his appreciation of all those who have posted trying to help him?
Personally I never made much off of news releases, but used RAN Squawk and or Live Squawk over the years. But the guys that carved out an edge in trading comments would have their own Bloomberg Terminals. Some people would pay for upgrades on the squawk services to get a faster connection to central bank's speech so they were hearing the comments a second or so faster than other people.