Opening Range Breakout (ORB)
Overview
The opening range breakout strategy defines a price range during the first fifteen to thirty minutes of a trading session and trades the breakout in either direction. The opening range captures the initial battle between buyers and sellers, and a decisive break above or below this range often sets the tone for the remainder of the session, making it one of the most popular intraday strategies.
Key Concepts
The opening range is typically defined as the high and low of the first fifteen or thirty minutes. A breakout above the range signals bullish sentiment for the session. A breakout below signals bearish sentiment. Volume on the breakout candle should exceed the average volume during the opening range. Failed breakouts (fakeouts) are common and require strict stop management. Pre-market levels, previous day high and low, and VWAP provide context for which direction is more likely to hold.
Entry Signals
Enter long when price closes above the opening range high with increased volume. Enter short when price closes below the opening range low with increased volume. Use a pullback to the broken range boundary for a lower-risk entry. Confirm with VWAP direction — a breakout in the direction of VWAP bias has higher probability.
Exit Signals
Stop just inside the opening range on the opposite side of the breakout. Target one to two times the height of the opening range projected from the breakout point. Time-based exit: close by the end of the session if the target is not reached. Exit immediately if price returns fully inside the opening range after a breakout.
Best Timeframes
1M, 5M, 15M
Pro Tips
The opening range breakout works best in markets with defined session times such as equities and futures. In crypto, consider using the opening of the London or New York session as your reference period. Avoid trading the ORB on low-volatility days when the opening range is unusually narrow — false breakouts are more likely.
More Topics in This Category
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Tape reading analyzes the real-time stream of executed trades (Time & Sales) and the order book (Level II / DOM) to identify institutional activity. Tape readers watch for large orders, icebergs, spoofing, and absorption patterns to scalp entries ahead of imminent price moves. This is the most granular form of order flow trading.
Session Transition Scalps
Session transition scalping exploits the volatility and liquidity shifts that occur when one major trading session hands off to the next. The overlaps between the Asian-to-London and London-to-New York sessions create predictable patterns of expansion, reversal, and liquidity grabs as new participants enter and reprice the market based on their regional order flow and sentiment.
Bollinger Squeeze Scalps
The Bollinger squeeze scalp identifies periods when Bollinger Bands contract to their narrowest width, indicating extremely low volatility that typically precedes a sharp expansion. By measuring the bandwidth or using a Keltner Channel inside the Bollinger Bands as a squeeze indicator, traders anticipate the explosive breakout and scalp the initial directional move that follows the compression.
VWAP Scalping
VWAP (Volume Weighted Average Price) scalping uses the VWAP line and its standard deviation bands as dynamic support/resistance for intraday scalp entries. Institutional algorithms weight their execution toward VWAP, making it a self-fulfilling level. Price below VWAP = short bias; above = long bias.