[latchkey]

When the value dropped, the network hashrate dropped and difficulty went down so things actually became profitable again.

The best time to mine is during the drops, not the highs, unless you follow buy high, sell low and don't believe the market will correct for the better again (which it has).

Of course, it depends on electricity prices, but it is profitable to mine ethereum, especially if you know how to tune the cards to maximize hash/consumption.

That said, mining is competitive and difficult and unless you are going to go really large, don't bother. If you are interested in learning about it, definitely experiment though don't expect to make a lot of money.