Will patterns people use for a number of years suddenly stop working or stop appearing?
assuming trader is a trader and everything is okey with his balls
stop working - yes
stop appearing - no
why is it possible for them stop working ?
because usually patterns in the particular time periods appearing not in a vacuum, but while there are other patterns in the same on different time-periods ...
so "working" or not will depend of how this overlap between patterns will occur in the future
and it is possible that what was "working" in the past often was just favorable overlap,and will not work today, but may work tomorrow
here is when the trader and his capabilities and vision comes-in .. he is the one who suppose to see whats going on not only on the smaller but on the bigger pictures as well , and adjust his approach accordingly
that's why algorithm will never will trade better than trader....
that's why all those morons talking about historical ten percent profit and salivate about it...
they do not know what dynamic trading is about... they do not have vision, flexibility, they paralyzed by their own rules and expectations,...
and limitations of their their algorithms is just an extension of their inability to roll with the situation