Is anyone else finding this year so far very difficult. I have been trading for many years and it seems like all the volume and volatility has gone.
Yep. Same here, commodities trader, not fixed income. I started a thread about it: http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=235387
It depends on what your strategy is. 2011 was very bad for trend following, 2012 is looking much better so far.