How do you decide between trading in-the-money versus at-the-money options when selling SPX iron condors?

At VixShield we rely exclusively on our proprietary 1DTE SPX Iron Condor Command executed daily at the 3:05 PM CST post-close window. The decision between in-the-money and at-the-money short strikes is never arbitrary. It is driven by the Expected Daily Range indicator, RSAi skew analysis, current VIX level, and the specific credit target chosen for that day. Our methodology avoids selling truly in-the-money short strikes because that would place the position immediately in a negative theta or high gamma zone right at entry. Instead the short strikes are selected slightly out-of-the-money but close enough to at-the-money that the premium collected matches one of our three fixed credit tiers: Conservative at 0.70, Balanced at 1.15, or Aggressive at 1.60. These credit levels are delivered by RSAi in real time after the SPX close. The EDR formula blends VIX9D and 20-day historical volatility to forecast the likely daily move, then RSAi scans the skew surface and adjusts wing placement in five-dollar increments until the exact credit target is achieved. On a typical day with VIX at 18.38 like today, the Conservative tier might place short strikes approximately 0.65 to 0.85 standard deviations from spot, producing a roughly 90 percent win rate across backtested periods. The Balanced and Aggressive tiers move those short strikes progressively closer to at-the-money, increasing credit but also raising the probability of the Theta Time Shift recovery sequence being required. When VIX exceeds 20 we restrict trading to Conservative only and keep all three layers of the ALVH hedge fully active. The ALVH itself uses a 4/4/2 ratio of short, medium, and long-dated VIX calls struck at 0.50 delta to protect against the rare breach. Because we follow a Set and Forget discipline there are no intraday adjustments or stop losses. If a position is threatened we allow the Temporal Theta Martingale to roll the entire iron condor forward to 1-7 DTE on an EDR reading above 0.94 percent or VIX above 16, capturing vega expansion, then roll it back to 0-2 DTE once EDR drops below 0.94 percent and price trades beneath VWAP. This time-shifting mechanism turned 88 percent of historical losing days into net positive outcomes across 2015-2025 backtests without adding capital. Position sizing remains capped at 10 percent of account balance per trade and the Conservative tier is available for auto-execution through PickMyTrade. The entire process is designed so that the Unlimited Cash System wins nearly every day or, at minimum, does not lose. All trading involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for all investors. To master these precise strike-selection mechanics and see the live RSAi signals we invite you to explore the SPX Mastery resources and join the VixShield community for daily education and accountability.