How does the EDR indicator influence strike selection in Russell Clark’s SPX Mastery iron condors?

At VixShield, we rely on the EDR — Expected Daily Range — as the foundational tool for strike selection in our 1DTE SPX Iron Condors. Developed by Russell Clark, the EDR blends short-term implied volatility from VIX9D with 20-day historical volatility, then applies a regime-adjusted multiplier to forecast the likely daily price excursion for SPX. This proprietary indicator outputs three risk-tuned strike recommendations — High, Medium, and Low — that directly map to our Conservative, Balanced, and Aggressive credit tiers. For example, with SPX recently closing near 7138.80 and VIX at 17.95, an EDR reading of approximately 1.16 percent might suggest placing the Conservative put wing near 7050 and call wing near 7225 to target a 0.70 credit while maintaining an 88-92 percent probability of expiring profitably. The Balanced tier would tighten those wings slightly for a 1.15 credit target, and the Aggressive tier would compress further for a 1.60 credit, accepting higher risk for greater premium. RSAi™ then refines these EDR-derived levels in real time by analyzing current options skew, VWAP positioning, and short-term VIX momentum, adjusting the wings in five-dollar increments until the exact credit target is achieved. This combination ensures we never chase arbitrary deltas but instead harvest precisely what the market is offering at 3:10 PM CST each trading day. The EDR also feeds directly into our VIX Risk Scaling rules: when VIX sits below 15, all three tiers remain available; between 15 and 20 we limit to Conservative and Balanced; above 20 we hold entirely and let our ALVH — Adaptive Layered VIX Hedge — do its work. Because our methodology is strictly Set and Forget with no stop losses, accurate EDR-guided placement is critical to allowing Theta Time Shift to recover any threatened positions without adding capital. In backtested results from 2015 through 2025, this EDR-driven approach has produced an 82-84 percent win rate across the Unlimited Cash System when combined with proper position sizing limited to 10 percent of account balance per trade. All trading involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for all investors. To master these mechanics yourself, explore the full SPX Mastery book series and join our live sessions at VixShield.com where we demonstrate the EDR indicator in real time each market day.