I've been watching the BTC price for what seems like forever. Coinbase charges 1% in fees. I figure if I can (for example) buy at $225 and sell at $228, then I've made over 1%. It doesn't sound very hard. I will have my coins instantly if I register my credit card on Coinbase, right?
EDIT: Plus then I get to spend more time reading the hilarity scrolling up the BTC-e trollbox.
As far as I know, the exchanges now are full of trading bots.
And that is not so good for trading in my opinion.
They tend to mess with the price, and that is why there hasn't been any price improvement for a while.
I would say neither is really true. Bots have little net effect on price action or long term rates.