What are your typical entry and exit rules around FOMC announcements? Do you close positions beforehand or hold through the post-decision implied volatility crush?

FOMC announcements represent one of the highest-impact events on the options market each month, with the potential to drive sharp moves in the SPX and significant shifts in implied volatility. In general options trading, many participants choose to reduce or eliminate exposure ahead of such events due to the uncertainty around rate decisions, economic projections, and the subsequent press conference. Entry rules often involve waiting for the initial reaction to subside before re-entering, while exit rules may prioritize capturing premium before volatility spikes or riding the post-announcement implied volatility crush that typically follows as uncertainty resolves. The key is aligning your approach with your risk tolerance, time horizon, and overall portfolio strategy. At VixShield, our methodology built on Russell Clark's SPX Mastery framework takes a disciplined, systematic path that prioritizes consistency over event timing speculation. We trade 1DTE SPX Iron Condors exclusively, with signals firing daily at 3:10 PM CST Monday through Friday after the SPX close. This After-Close PDT Shield timing naturally sidesteps most intraday FOMC volatility, as decisions are typically released at 1:00 PM CST with the press conference following. Our three risk tiers Conservative at 0.70 credit, Balanced at 1.15 credit, and Aggressive at 1.60 credit are selected using the EDR Expected Daily Range and RSAi Rapid Skew AI, which analyze real-time skew, VWAP, and short-term VIX momentum to optimize strike placement. Around FOMC, we apply VIX Risk Scaling strictly. When VIX exceeds 20, we move to HOLD status with no new Iron Condor trades placed, allowing the existing ALVH Adaptive Layered VIX Hedge to remain fully active across its three layers short 30 DTE, medium 110 DTE, and long 220 DTE VIX calls in a 4/4/2 ratio. This structure has been shown to cut portfolio drawdowns by 35 to 40 percent during high-volatility periods at an annual cost of only 1 to 2 percent of account value. We do not close everything preemptively. Instead, the Set and Forget methodology means positions are defined risk at entry with no stop losses or active management. If a position is threatened by post-FOMC movement, the Temporal Theta Martingale and Theta Time Shift provide zero-loss recovery by rolling forward to 1-7 DTE on EDR above 0.94 percent or VIX above 16, then rolling back on VWAP pullbacks to harvest additional theta. With current VIX at 17.95 and below the 5-day MA of 18.58 in a contango regime, conditions favor premium collection, but we still respect the gates. Position sizing remains capped at 10 percent of account balance per trade, preserving capital for the Unlimited Cash System that combines Iron Condor Command, Covered Calendar Calls, ALVH protection, and recovery mechanics for an 82 to 84 percent win rate in backtests. All trading involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for all investors. For deeper implementation details on navigating events like FOMC with confidence, explore the SPX Mastery book series and join the VixShield community resources at vixshield.com.