Implied volatility is getting crushed. The CBOE Volatility Index (.VIX) is down 8.66 to 45.02 and falling to session lows. VIX has now erased a significant amount of the gains from October, when it opened at 39.39, and retraced more than 61.8 percent of the gains from August 22 to October 24. The plunge in the VIX comes amid an election day rally that has the S&P 500 (.SPX) up 38 points and back above the 1,000 level. 183,000 SPX puts and 137,000 calls have traded on the day. Actual levels of market volatility remain very high, however, with the 20-day statistical volatility of the S&P 500 at 84.2 percent. The big difference between the 20-day actual volatility and the current readings from the VIX seems to reflect a sense of growing optimism among investors, which is probably due to the fact that the months of November and December are historically a lot less volatile than the month of October.