Hi,
Good to know your story. Yes money can be made, as rightly pointed out with expertise and strong hand (good money back up).
One question: Did you manage all fund by yourself or do you have some workforce or people under you?
And about advisory companies or consultant, yes their business is thriving, most of them are just minting money with giving calls with the flow. But not all people who are tracking market and offering their services are con's. They are doing legitimate work by investing their time in research and they might not have sufficient capital or aptitude to trade. I believe analysis and trading both are different ball game, some are able to do it both and some not.