Scalp with opening range — intermediate difficulty
This strategy involves scalping US index futures during the 9:30-10:30 AM ET window, based on the opening range and manipulation candle signals. It is designed for intraday trading and can be adapted to equities. The strategy aims to capture the initial price movement after the market open, using a rules-based approach with defined entry, stop, and target levels.
This strategy is suitable for US index futures (ES, NQ, MES, MNQ) and equities, using a 1-minute chart during the 9:30-10:30 AM ET window.
The 1-Minute Opening Range Scalping Strategy is built on a specific market microstructure behavior that occurs regularly in the first few minutes after the US equity/futures market opens at 9:30 AM ET. The strategy involves identifying a manipulation candle that breaks out of the opening range in one direction before reversing and moving strongly in the opposite direction.
The strategy's core insight is that the market frequently makes a false move - a 'manipulation candle' - that breaks out of the opening range in one direction before reversing and moving strongly in the opposite direction. This false breakout is attributed to institutional order flow: large players drive price through obvious breakout levels to trigger retail stop orders and fill their own positions at better prices before the true move begins.
The strategy involves a step-by-step trade setup for long and short entries, based on the manipulation candle and opening range. The entry rules include marking the opening range, identifying the manipulation candle, confirming the reversal close, setting limit entry, stop loss, and take profit levels.
The strategy includes confirmation filters to improve setup quality and reduce false signals. These filters include HTF bias, supply/demand, range size, candle close, time filter, and news filter.
The strategy involves risk management techniques, including position sizing, max risk per trade, max daily loss limit, and max weekly loss limit. The strategy also includes a framework for backtesting and evaluating performance.
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