Everyone trades direction. Some trade the direction of the underlying; some trade the direction of volatility (option traders) and some trade the direction of the pair. But we all trade direction one way or the other. There is always a directional aspect to a pair trade as you want the spread to either narrow or widen. Every trader trades direction in one form or another. A bond trader that trades the NOB spread (notes over bonds) is trading direction. A trader that is long dispersion (trading long equity vol/short index vol) is trading direction. For example, the guy that sells 5 delta verticals for .30 credits risking 9.70 makes money every month. He would most certainly agree with you that it's much easier to sell volatility the way he does vs. having to make a call on the direction of the market. But when we have one sharp move that wipes out all of his yearly profits in one month and then the following month there is another sharp move that wipes out 50% of his account. The result is the same. Sure, for 11 months he got a free pass. But sooner or later, the piper comes knocking and he wants to be paid. Trading is a tough business no matter what product you are trading or what your style is.