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Opening range breakout: the rules, on real charts.

The first minutes of the session set a range. The strategy trades the first close outside it, with the stop on the other side. Here is how it is defined, how it played out on two real MNQ mornings, and how to fit it inside prop firm rules.

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The rule card, two real MNQ sessions (one target, one stop) and how to size it under a trailing drawdown. The free overview is below; we also email you the link, so it is one tap away next time.

What is an opening range breakout?

An opening range breakout (ORB) is an intraday strategy that marks the high and low of the first few minutes after the market opens, then takes a trade in the direction price leaves that range. The stop usually goes on the other side of the range, so the size of the opening range sets the risk of the trade. It is one of the oldest and most widely taught day-trading rule sets, and it is popular with futures traders because the rules are simple enough to write down exactly and to automate.

For index futures such as MNQ and NQ, the "open" usually means the US cash-session open at 9:30 ET (8:30 CT), even though the futures trade almost around the clock. That is when volume and range jump.

Illustration of an opening range breakout: a shaded box marks the opening range from 9:30 ET, a bar closes above it (the entry), the stop sits at the other side of the range and the target a fixed multiple away.
The shape of the rules. Mark the range, enter on the first close outside it, stop on the other side. Drawn by us to show the rules; it is not a price chart. Illustration, not market data.

The idea in four lines

  • Range: the high and low of the first 5, 15 or 30 minutes after the open.
  • Entry: the first bar that closes outside the range, in the direction of the break.
  • Stop: the other side of the range (some versions use the middle of it).
  • Exit: a fixed multiple of the range or of the risk, or a set time of day, whichever comes first.

Every one of those choices changes the results, which is why a written rule card matters more than the name of the strategy. "ORB" on a 5-minute range with a mid-range stop is a different strategy from "ORB" on a 30-minute range with the stop on the far side.

Why it is hard to trade inside a prop account

The opening range is a different size every day. On the two MNQ mornings in the full breakdown it was 46.5 points on one day and 123 points on the other, so the same rules risked $94 on one micro contract one day and $254.50 the next. If you trade the same number of contracts every day, the strategy quietly decides your risk for you, and a prop firm's daily loss limit and trailing drawdown do not care which strategy you used.

Two opening ranges drawn to scale: 46.5 points, risking $94 on one micro, and 123 points, risking $254.50 on one micro, with the stop on the other side of each range.
The range decides the risk. A 46.5-point range risked $94 on one micro; a 123-point range risked $254.50. Risk, not outcomes: the sessions are the selected examples in the full breakdown.

What is in the full breakdown

  • The rule cardExact range, entry, stop, target and time rules, written so you could code them.
  • A real session where it workedMNQ, 18 Sep 2026, 1-minute chart, step by step.
  • A real session where it failedMNQ, 25 Sep 2026, and the sizing lesson it teaches.
  • Prop-rule fitDaily loss limit, trailing drawdown and consistency, worked in numbers.
  • A test-it-yourself planHow to backtest and stress-test it before it costs you an evaluation.

The full breakdown · free with your email

Opening range breakout: rules, real charts, prop-rule fit

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1. The rule card

Teaching example · not a recommendation

15-minute opening range breakout, 1-minute bars

  1. Range. Mark the highest high and lowest low from 9:30 to 9:45 ET.
  2. Entry. The first 1-minute bar after 9:45 that closes above the range high (long) or below the range low (short). Enter on that close.
  3. Stop. The other side of the range: the range low for a long, the range high for a short.
  4. Target. Two times the range, measured from the side of the range price broke out of.
  5. One trade a day. After a stop or a target, the strategy is done for the day.
  6. Time exit. If neither the stop nor the target is reached, exit at a time you fix in advance (the charts here run to 10:30 ET).
  7. Size. Contracts = the money you allow per trade ÷ (stop distance in points × the contract's point value), rounded down. Never the other way round.

Rule 7 is the one most ORB tutorials leave out, and the failed example below is why it is on the card. Point values come from CME Group's contract specs: MNQ is $2 a point, NQ $20. Our examples use micros.

Timeline of the rule card: the range forms 9:30 to 9:45 ET, entries come from 9:45 on the first 1-minute close outside the range, the charts' time exit is 10:30 ET, and there is one trade a day.
The rule card on the clock. Range 9:30–9:45 ET, entry on the first close outside it, a time exit fixed in advance (10:30 on these charts), one trade a day.

2. A session where the rules worked

Real chartSelected example, chosen to show the rulesTarget reached

MNQ 1-minute chart, 18 September 2026, 9:30 to 10:34 ET: a 46.5-point opening range, a close below it at 9:48, and the 2 × range target reached at 10:16
MNQ1! · 1-minute · 18 Sep 2026, 9:30–10:34 ET · Chart: TradingView (snapshot; levels and labels marked by Tarrow Futures). A past session, selected to show the rules, not a typical result.
StepWhat the chart showsNumber
RangeHigh and low, 9:30–9:45 ET29,845.25 / 29,798.75 = 46.5 pts
EntryFirst 1-minute close outside the range: 9:48, below the low29,798.25
StopRange high29,845.25, 47 pts away
TargetRange low − 2 × 46.529,705.75, 92.5 pts away
OutcomeTarget traded at 10:16risk 47 × $2 = $94, reward 92.5 × $2 = $185 per MNQ

Read the chart from left to right. The first 15 minutes swung inside a 46.5-point box. Three minutes after the box closed, a bar closed below it; that close is the entry, and the stop sits at the top of the box. Price moved away without returning to the stop, and the 2 × range level traded 28 minutes later. Dollar figures are per micro contract, before commissions and slippage. Hypothetical: what the written rules would have done that morning, not a trade anyone placed (CFTC Rule 4.41 notice below the next example).

3. A session where the same rules failed

Real chartSelected example, chosen to show the rulesStopped out

MNQ 1-minute chart, 25 September 2026, 9:30 to 10:11 ET: a 123-point opening range, a close above it at 9:52, and the stop at the range low reached at 10:05
MNQ1! · 1-minute · 25 Sep 2026, 9:30–10:11 ET · Chart: TradingView (snapshot; levels and labels marked by Tarrow Futures). A past session, selected to show the rules, not a typical result.
StepWhat the chart showsNumber
RangeHigh and low, 9:30–9:45 ET30,890.25 / 30,767.25 = 123 pts
EntryFirst 1-minute close outside the range: 9:52, above the high30,894.50
StopRange low30,767.25, 127.25 pts away
OutcomePrice reversed through the whole range; stop traded at 10:05127.25 × $2 = −$254.50 per MNQ
The lesson: the range decides your risk unless you do

Same rules, but the stop was 127.25 ÷ 47 ≈ 2.7 times as far away as on 18 September. A trader who sized both days the same way at 5 MNQ (which risked 5 × $94 = $470 on the 18th) would have risked 5 × $254.50 = $1,272.50 on the 25th, more than a $1,000 daily loss limit in a single trade (example limit). Sized from rule 7 with the same $470 per trade, the 25th allowed $470 ÷ $254.50 = 1.8, rounded down to 1 MNQ: a $254.50 loss, and the account is still trading tomorrow.

Can you tell a 25 September in advance? In our small sample of recorded sessions we did not find a filter that reliably separated good ORB days from bad ones, so we do not offer one. Test any filter before trusting it.

CFTC Rule 4.41: Hypothetical or simulated performance results have certain limitations. Unlike an actual performance record, simulated results do not represent actual trading. Also, since the trades have not been executed, the results may have under- or over-compensated for the impact, if any, of certain market factors, such as lack of liquidity. Simulated trading programs in general are also subject to the fact that they are designed with the benefit of hindsight. No representation is being made that any account will or is likely to achieve profit or losses similar to those shown.

4. How it fits prop firm rules

Daily loss limit: size from the stop

Decide how many full stops you want to survive in a day, then divide. Example figures: a $1,000 daily limit and two stops gives $500 a trade. On 18 September ($94 a micro) that is 5 MNQ; on 25 September ($254.50 a micro) it is 1. Because the strategy takes one trade a day, the second stop's worth of room is spare: a buffer for slippage and for the day the range is bigger still.

Steps: a $1,000 daily limit divided by two stops is $500 a trade; at $94 a micro that is 5 MNQ, at $254.50 a micro it is 1 MNQ.
Size from the stop. $1,000 ÷ 2 stops = $500 a trade: 5 MNQ on 18 September, 1 on 25 September. Example figures, not results.

Trailing drawdown: open profit moves the floor

Under an intraday trailing drawdown, the floor follows your highest balance, open trades included. Example sequence, not results: a $50,000 account with a $2,000 trailing drawdown, 5 MNQ, $470 risk and $925 target per trade. Two targets take it to $51,850. The third trade runs to +$800 open (peak $52,650, floor $50,650), then stops out ($51,380). Two more stops leave $50,440: net +$440, and $210 below the floor. The rules made money and the account still breached. What matters is your longest losing streak × risk per trade against the room left after the floor has trailed.

Consistency rule: one big day can count against you

ORB days are lumpy: a target day is two or more times a stop day. Under a consistency rule your best day may be capped as a share of total profit. Example figures: under a 50% rule, a best day of $925 needs total profit of at least $925 ÷ 0.50 = $1,850 before it fits. Rules and percentages differ by firm; check yours.

Free toolPosition size calculator: contracts from your limit and your stop Free toolDrawdown room calculator: where your floor sits now Free toolConsistency rule checker: does your best day fit? BlogWhy open profit raises an intraday trailing floor

5. Test it yourself before you trade it

  1. Write the card down exactly. Range window, bar size, "close outside" (not "touch"), stop, target, the time exit and one trade a day. If two people could code it differently, it is not finished.
  2. Backtest it on your contract, many sessions. Record each day's range in points as well as the outcome; the range is your risk.
  3. Add costs. Commission both ways and slippage on every fill, more on stops in fast markets. A delayed fill is never better than the backtest price, so model it as a cost.
  4. Run your size through the rules. Longest losing streak × risk per trade against your daily limit and your trailing drawdown, not against the account size.
  5. Forward-test it on a simulator for weeks before any paid evaluation, and compare the fills to the backtest.
Free 32-page guideBuild It, Break It, Then Trade It: backtest and stress-test a strategy, step by step Strategy libraryNext: the VWAP pullback, on real charts

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Disclosures

Education only. This page explains how a widely known, public strategy is defined and how you could test it yourself. It is not advice, not a recommendation to trade any contract, size or strategy, and not a signal: it shows no setup for any future session. Charts are real past sessions, chosen to show the rules (including a day they failed); they are selected examples, not typical results. The charts are TradingView snapshots (MNQ1!, regular trading hours, one-minute unless the caption says otherwise; a volume profile, where shown, is TradingView's built-in Fixed Range Volume Profile); diagrams labelled as illustrations are drawn by Tarrow Futures and are not market data. The level, range, entry, stop and target marks and labels on them were added by Tarrow Futures. Bars may differ slightly from those on your platform. Trade outcomes on this page are what the written rules would have done on those days, before commissions and slippage. They are not trades Tarrow Futures placed. Dollar figures for sequences and rules are example figures, not results. Prop firm rules differ and change; your firm's current rulebook decides. Futures trading involves substantial risk of loss. Automation does not remove risk.

CFTC Rule 4.41: Hypothetical or simulated performance results have certain limitations. Unlike an actual performance record, simulated results do not represent actual trading. Also, since the trades have not been executed, the results may have under- or over-compensated for the impact, if any, of certain market factors, such as lack of liquidity. Simulated trading programs in general are also subject to the fact that they are designed with the benefit of hindsight. No representation is being made that any account will or is likely to achieve profit or losses similar to those shown.