Yes, but as TskTsk noted a few posts above, it's hard to know if the increase in IV is just getting started or if it's topping out. Profits come a lot easier if you've got the edge-skill-mojo to sell volatility at the right time, not just because it's high relative to three months ago or a year ago.
Yes you are right. But selling inflated options (while hedging the position to avoid nasty surprises) will definitively put the odds in favor of the option writers, in the long run.
qua definitione, selling something expensive and buying something cheap would, in general, tip the odds in your favour. You do, however, need to predict if the "inflated options" are truly rich or they are just pricing in some upcoming events. In general, shorting risk premium is a positive expectation trade - market participants, mostly institutional players and directional traders are paying you for taking on a very unfavorable P&L profile. Or, statistically speaking, you are accepting huge kurtosis in exchange for an improvement in the average return and return volatility. As the old insurance adage goes, "sell earthquake insurance after the quake, not before it" - positive expectation does not mean that you can not be wiped out by a single event.
Of course, but the majority of option sellers are very sophisticated traders and they are fully aware of the risk they are taking. Like I said in the previous post, they usually hedge their bets to protect themselves from what I like to call "tsunami events".
Did you know that most option brokers will not even allow you to sell options if you have no serious previous experience in that field? Try to open an account to sell options and see what happens...
You are being sarcastic right? Because in 1999 Wade Cook explained the "rich man's secret" the covered call. I opened an account knowing diddly about options except that I was going to be conservative shooting for 5% returns a month. Even the test to qualify for portfolio margin was pretty basic. The broker wants you to trade, they don't care if you know what you are doing.
Experience AND capital. If you still don't believe that then just call OptionsXpress and tell them you are just starting out and want to sell naked calls for example, they will immediately approve your application without any hesitation ("Sure, of course, just wire us some money and you can start right away!")!