In Wall Street parlance these glitches are called “market anomalies” and explain the difference between the actual trading data vs a hypothesized model (like efficient market hypothesis). Practically all professional trading strategies are rooting in systematically extracting the returns from these anomalies, and the workflow of the trader or analyst is designed to highlight and evaluate them.
Yes, you are spot on. This "method" of trading is not a secret, rather it's just ignored by most independent traders. Most traders want to speculate, guess and let ego get in the way. Wall Street and "traders in the know" accept that finding a strategy with an edge and then mechanically executing this strategy is really the only way to succeed. And finding "edge" has nothing to do with fanciful technical patterns.
Wow... the experience is inspiring. Still I don't believe in the existence of any profitable strategies, even despite the fact some of the man really be handy and have good indications. Trading is a very fickle thing and after a series of harsh fluctuations of the price of certain asset, or, having a news background, the same strategies don't work. Thus you should work on a new one.