You're free to believe whatever you want, but you're wrong.

I live in Chicago, and know a few traders personally who consistently outperform the market. They would laugh their asses off if you told them that 5 pips per day is the most you can expect. I was once an intern for Lind Waldock, and some profitable guys who traded with them didn't mind sharing their views or explaining why they entered a certain trade.

I remember one man in particular. He's in his early sixties, and moved here from China about 40 years ago. He once traded on the Vancouver stock exchange for an institution before trading on his own and managing some money for a few big clients. He specializes in index futures, mostly the S&P e-mini. I watched over his shoulder for a week. Even with the ridiculously low levels of volatility there has been on the major indices in the last few years, he still manages to pull 20 pts per day out of the E-mini S&P.

For those that don't know, 1 pt on the E-mini S&P is worth $50 per contract. He trades 100 contracts at a time and makes 10-15 trades per day. He trades off of a 10-minute chart with no indicators. Just time & sales and volume.

He's like an idiot-savant. He could never explain how he is able to do what he does, but he consistently pulls $100k per day out of the market on the S&P alone.

Saying that 5 pips per day is all you can expect in the long-run is a blanket statement. I think what you meant to say is that 5 pips per day is all that YOU expect to get.