I've been trading for almost two decades (it'll be 20 years in July), and I've seen markets go though numerous contractions and expansions. Every time we hit a slow period, people think the market is dead and never coming back. It always does. To make a consistent living in this business, I've found that I have to keep multiple markets in play for trading. Right now its CL, 6E and the ES (though most days ES hasn't presented many opportunities). By watching multiple markets, I can be assured of having at least 3-5 solid trading opportunities every day.