Does anyone have methods to trade the open or do people generally wait for the 1st 15 mins. to see what happens? I've tried methods based on going long or short after the price goes higher or lower than the 1st 5 minute bar, but often the price reverses on me and the trade is unsuccessful. I noticed that the opening range ( first 30 mins or so ) often defines the type of trading day. If it's wide, this range usually defines an intraday trading range and if it's small the price often breaks out of this range either lower or higher soon after 10am ET
Check out the threads entitled "Don's Openings", there's six of them. Opening orders is a strategy that gets you long and short positions on the first print of the day based on fair value calculations.
Also notice the length of the price bars, the longer the bars, the more likely a choppy day is afoot. (referring to NQ) sulong
I know a couple of successful traders who only trade the first 1/2 hour, and do exactly that....play the reversal. -FastTrader
Watch the gappers...if they stay strong first 5 min or weak in a gap down they can turn out to be good plays to take.
I guess my way is a little different, because I was taught by a floor trader that the "opening range" took place within the first 90 seconds to 2 minutes of the session. So, I use 133T bars which is pretty close to the 2 minute bar. Anyway, this is how I like to do it. Sometimes you get it the first time, but don't be surprised if it takes 2 or 3 tries. You can use any time frame you want, but this is basically the plan. (Just reverse for short trades) When the market trades above your opening range bar, go long and put your stop 1 tick below the opening bar. For example, if the range is 1014.00--1013.00, you would go long at 1014.25 and have your stop at 1013.75. Don't reverse, just get out for a 2 tick loss. Like I said, you may have to give it 2 or 3 tries, but usually if I don't get it after the 3rd try, I forget about it. I'll post a couple of charts. One from yesterday and today on the ES.