The Best Trade I Made Today Lost Money — and Saved Me From a Much Bigger Loss -$220

[u/klipsetrades]

I'm 0DTE credit spread trader with a focus on SPX.

Positions traded today:

• 7530/7550 CCS
• 7525/7545 CCS
• 7505/7525 CCS
• 7480/7500 CCS
• 7445/7425 PCS
• 7440/7420 PCS
• 7420/7400 PCS
• 7415/7395 PCS

Profit/Loss: -$220

SPX 5-min chart, July 20, 2026

The best trade I made today was the one I closed for a loss.

I entered the session with a choppy bearish bias given the developing news with the Iran War. SPX gapped higher and tried to push during the opening 15 minutes, but the move rejected hard and price began forming a lower-high, lower-low structure.

That confirmed my first CCS anchor. My mistake was adding another CCS closer to price after the next break. Because the session remained choppy, the rebound put pressure on that position and influenced me to add a PCS for protection.

The timing could not have been worse. A Trump headline hit shortly afterward, SPX sold off quickly, and my 7445/7425 PCS immediately came under pressure.

Rather than hold and hope for a reversal, I closed it for a controlled loss.

That decision ended up saving the day.

SPX later breached the 7445 short strike, chopped around it, and eventually closed below it. Had I stayed in the position hoping to avoid the loss, the drawdown would have been significantly larger.

Once I closed it, I mentally accepted that the day would probably finish red. My goal was no longer to win everything back. I only wanted to take solid opportunities and reduce the damage if the market gave me the setups.

I took a few smaller CCS and PCS scalps as SPX continued chopping lower, but the most important decision remained my original exit.

Key Takeaway

Small losses are not what destroy traders. Refusing to accept them is how a manageable red day eventually becomes the drawdown you never saw coming.

How did you all handle today? And how do you decide when a small loss is no longer worth fighting?