I also choose to avoid the first fifteen minutes. I guess it depends on what vehicle you trade and how you define the open. I only trade the ES and while I sit out the first fifteen minutes, I find the next 45 minutes i.e. 9:45 - 10:30 EST to be the best trading time of the day, bar none. Whether that categorizes me as avoiding the open or trading it - I don't know nor care.
Trading the stocks open it pretty straightforward for me - I avoid the first few minutes unless it is obvious not to do so, or if I am not in an Opening Only position which automatically gets me in on the opening print. Trading SIFs, it is waaaaay more complicated imo than asking whether you should trade the open or not, but this would take me into two years of statistics that I have acquired... nitro
The only reason I avoid the first five or ten minutes of the open is that I often trade smaller NAS stocks and the spread is ridiculous!! So I just wait for the raping and pillaging to stop and then enter. That also gives me a chance to see the general direction. If you're patient, you can usually tell if it would be better to wait or whether you need to dive in. With my strategy, sometimes I can get priced out doing this but generally it's better for me just to be patient...
welcome back, acracy. I thought we will never see you again here, very glad you are back and hope you are here to stay.