The market’s been higher for a few consecutive days, and as I write this, futures for today’s trading are also higher.As a result, implied volatility has come tumbling down.And that offers opportunities that have been scarce lately.

I don’t know if that IV decline will continue, but if you own positions that require protection, now may be an appropriate time to buy a small quantity of extra puts and/or calls – just in case the market makes a big move.

It may also be time to take advantage of the volatility crunch by buying back some short options positions – especially if they have reached levels where there’s not too much left to earn.Ive been buying in RUT March call spreads (half of the March iron condor positions) at prices below $0.35.I’m hoping to get some put spreads on today’s rally.I’ve been bidding every day, but those OTM put option spreads are very slow to shrink in market value, and no one is actively selling them. Maybe one more rally day will do it.

If you believe this drop in option implied volatailites is going to continue, then you can take a different approach.You can open new positions that are short vega (the volatility component in the price of an option).Two methods for doing that include the sale of credit sprads and the purchase of iron condors.

Predicting future trends in implied option volatility is no easier than picking the direction in which the stock market is going to move.But, if you want to express an opinion and ‘bet’ on it, here’s an opportunity to do so.

1/28/2009http://www.mdwoptions.com