How a Real SPX Options Trade Hit Its Profit Target. And What I Did to Get There

Most options education shows you the entry. Clean setup, nice payoff diagram, job done!

What it rarely shows you is everything that happens between entry and exit. The moment the market moves against you, the decision of whether to adjust or hold, and the discipline required to take profits when the target is reached, instead of getting greedy.

This post documents a real SPX Best trade from open to close. Entry on 26 November 2025, one adjustment on 8 January 2026, close on 15 January 2026. Profit: $1,605 against a target of $1,500.

Every fill price, every decision, every screenshot. Exactly as posted in the Trading Community to all our members.

The Trade at a Glance

Instrument: SPX (S&P 500 Index options)

Strategy: SPX Best (Broken Wing Butterfly + soft hedge)

Opened: 26 November 2025

Closed: 15 January 2026

Duration: ~50 days

Entry credit $2,190

Final profit $1,605

Profit target $1,500 Result ✅ Target exceeded

Why I Opened This Trade on 26 November

After closing the previous SPX Best trade in mid-November, I immediately looked to redeploy the freed-up capital into a new position. This is a core discipline; staying invested in a consistent, structured way rather than sitting in cash waiting for the "perfect" entry.

Market context at entry:

The SPX was trading around 6,640 at the time. The VIX was at approximately 17.5. A moderate implied volatility reading that made premium collection attractive without requiring outsized risk.

Positioning logic:

I placed the short strikes of the Broken Wing Butterfly (BWB) structure at 6,500, well below the current market price of 6,640. The full rationale about choosing this position was disclosed to our members.

This conservative positioning reflects a core principle of the SPX Best strategy: the short strikes should be placed in a certain way that increases the chances that the market is unlikely to be at expiration, with a clear rationale.

I used a 60/40 base structure for the BWB and used a 30-wide strike difference for the soft hedge. At entry, the trade had a +1.9 Delta; a slight positive bias that reflected the market's general upward trend, but well within the delta-neutral framework I target.

Entry fills (26 November 2025):

The trade entered cleanly, producing a total credit of $2,190 against a profit target I set at $1,500.

What Happened Next: The Market Moved Up

In the weeks following entry, SPX moved higher. From ~6,640 toward the 7,000 range by early January.

This is entirely normal and expected within the SPX Best framework. The strategy is designed to remain profitable across a wide range of market outcomes, not just if the market stays flat. However, as prices moved higher, the trade's Delta shifted, moving into negative territory as the position became more sensitive to further upside.

The key question at this point is always: is this delta drift significant enough to require action, or is the position still comfortably within its intended risk parameters?

In this case, by early January, the Delta had drifted to approximately -0.61 — small in absolute terms, but worth addressing given the continued upside momentum and the position of the market relative to the structure.

The Adjustment: 8 January 2026

Rather than letting the negative delta accumulate further, I made a targeted adjustment to rebalance the position and capture additional premium.

Adjustment rationale:

The SPX price was still far from the BWB structure. With Delta being slightly negative, I adjusted the trade in order to deliver a small positive Delta, as this was the bias of the market at that time. So, I reduced the upper wing width from 40 to 30 strikes. This served two purposes:

1. It captured additional premium by tightening the spread

2. It turned the delta back to a small positive, returning the trade to its intended posture

This is an example of how the SPX Best strategy uses adjustments surgically: not to fix a broken trade, but to recalibrate a position that has drifted from its target parameters while conditions still allow it.

Adjustment fill (8 January 2026):

Trade Lots Fill Price Trade Cost VERTICAL SPX 100 20 FEB 26 [AM] 6540/6530 PUT O/C -6 0.90 +$540 credit

After this adjustment, the position status showed an unrealised profit of $1,280 against the $1,500 target, with the trade trending in the right direction.

Cumulative position after adjustment:

The Decision to Close: 15 January 2026

By 15 January, the profit target of $1,500 had been surpassed. The position was showing a strong profit, SPX was still well-positioned within the structure, and the market had continued to behave constructively.

At this point, many traders would be tempted to let the trade run to squeeze more profit out of a position that is working. This is one of the most common and costly mistakes in options trading.

My reasoning for closing:

"The profit target of the trade was surpassed, and I decided to close the trade and keep the profits. Although the SPX price was very well positioned inside the structure (BWB and Vertical), we never know what the market can bring. Being conservative is always good and cashing in the profits. Opening a new SPX trade with the free-up funds at a longer timeframe to reduce the portfolio risk is always a good decision."

This is not just discipline. It is a strategy! The SPX Best approach is built around consistent, repeatable profits, not maximising any single trade. Taking $1,605 when the target was $1,500 and immediately redeploying into a new position with longer DTE is how the fund compounds returns over time.

Closing fills (15 January 2026):

Final trade summary:

What This Trade Demonstrates

1. The strategy doesn't require predicting market direction

SPX moved higher during this trade (from ~6,640 to 7,000). The position remained profitable throughout because the structure was placed with sufficient distance from the market and the adjustment maintained that buffer. This is what non-directional trading looks like in practice.

2. Adjustments are recalibrations, not rescues

The 8 January adjustment was made from a position of strength. The market was far from the strikes, support regions were intact, and there was no urgency. The adjustment captured additional premium and rebalanced the delta. This is how the SPX Best manages positions: proactively, not reactively.

3. Discipline at the profit target is as important as discipline at entry

Closing at $1,605 against a $1,500 target is not settling for less. It is risk management. By closing and redeploying into a new position at a longer DTE, the capital is working again immediately, the new trade has more time cushion, and the overall portfolio risk is reduced. This compounding of disciplined exits is what drives the fund's long-term performance.

4. Transparency enforces accountability

Every fill in this trade was posted in the Trading Community on the day it happened, including the adjustment rationale, the payoff diagrams, and the closing decision. Members could see exactly what I was doing and why, in real time. This is not a curated highlight reel. It is the full record.

The Numbers in Context

A $1,605 profit on a trade that required approximately $7,500 in capital represents roughly 32% return on the capital allocated to this position, achieved in 50 days.

Across the fund's documented history since January 2022, this type of consistent, disciplined execution is what drives the +270% cumulative return (vs SPX +43% over the same period).

No single trade produces that result. A process of consistent entries, disciplined adjustments, and rule-based exits does.

What Members Saw in Real Time

Members of the Trading Community received:

• 26 November: Trade open notification with full rationale, strike selection logic, and payoff diagram

• 8 January: Adjustment post explaining the delta drift, the decision process, and the new position structure with updated diagrams and brokerage screenshots

• 15 January: Close notification with the final P&L, full trade summary table, and reasoning for taking profits at the target

Every post includes brokerage platform screenshots, so there is no ambiguity. Fills are documented, not estimated.

This is what "learning from live trades" means in practice. Not watching someone teach theory on a whiteboard, watching a real position evolve through real market conditions, with the full reasoning explained at every step.

Want to Follow the Next Trade Live?

The SPX Best strategy is currently active in my fund. Every new position, every adjustment, and every close is posted in the Trading Community — with full rationale, payoff diagrams, and brokerage screenshots.

You can access the full trade history and join the live Trading Room with a 7-day free trial.

See real trades, real adjustments, and real results. No commitment, cancel anytime.

Or if you want to understand the framework behind the SPX Best strategy before joining, you can read more about the membership here.

Past performance is not indicative of future results. Options trading involves significant risk and is not suitable for all investors. All trades shown are from a real account and are documented in the MyOptionsEdge Trading Community.

About the author: Pedro Branco is a volatility-focused index options trader who has traded options for more than 15 years and has run a live investment fund since 2020. He is the author of The Volatility Trading Plan, available on Amazon. Every strategy taught at MyOptionsEdge is actively traded in his account, with results published weekly here.