Opening Range Breakout Strategy (ORB)

The strategy

The Orb in plain words.

What it is

A breakout system for the first two hours of the session. The opening range is the high and low of the first 15 minutes after the 9:30 ET open.

What it does

It trades the first real move of the day, in whichever direction price leaves that range.

How it works

You wait for a 5-minute candle to close outside the range. Volume must run at least 1.5 times normal for that time of day, and price must sit on the right side of VWAP, the day's average price weighted by volume. You enter on the breakout close or the retest of the edge, set your stop at the range midpoint, and target one range height past the edge. No new trades after 11:30 ET.

What gets graded

The rules the reps grade.

The Orb is written down rule by rule, so every rep can be scored against it.

The call. Trade the break, or stand aside: when a filter fails, when no break comes before 11:30 ET, when a high-impact report is due inside the window, when the range runs more than twice its 10-session average, when an overnight high or low sits in the way, or after two attempts have stopped out. Skip every FOMC day too, the days the Federal Reserve announces its rate decision.
The bias. State it before the order goes in: long above the range, short below it.
The signal. A 5-minute candle closes outside the opening range, the high and low from 9:30 to 9:45 ET. A wick outside it is not a break.
Volume. Relative volume of 1.5 or more on the breakout candle: at least one and a half times normal volume for that time of day.
VWAP. Price on the right side of VWAP for your direction: above it for a long, below it for a short.
The entry. A limit at the breakout close or at the retest of the broken edge. Never chased.
The stop. The middle of the range.
The target. One range height past the broken edge, and at least 1.5 times the risk.
The early exit. If the candle right after the break closes back inside the range, the trade ends at that close.
The clock. No new trades from 11:30 ET.
The journal. Every rep logged, with how you felt when you took it.

Every rep is graded on whether you followed these rules, never on the money.

Forge III and Forge IV

Learn it in Orb Hammer. Prove it in Orb Anvil.

Orb Hammer

Orb Hammer teaches the Orb one rule at a time, then the gate.

Why the Open Matters
Marking the Range
The Break: A Close, Not a Wick
Relative Volume
VWAP
The Entry: Breakout Close, Retest or Chase
The Plan: Midpoint Stop, Measured Move, 1.5R
Standing Aside

The gate, in one sitting: six correct calls in the trainer, your written plan, and a short knowledge check. Pass all three and the ORB HAMMER badge is yours.

Orb Anvil

Orb Anvil is where you run it: simulated MNQ sessions played one candle at a time, every rep scored on the Orb's rules and never on the outcome, then journaled.

Thirteen scored practice sessions. Candles that close too far past the range to chase, breaks on ordinary volume or on the wrong side of VWAP, breaks after the cutoff, and trades that go your way for the wrong reason and score lower for it. Every one graded on whether you followed your own rules, never on the money.

The ORB ANVIL badge takes twenty scored reps across seven different scenarios, with your best twenty averaging 85 percent rule adherence.

What you need

Build the Orb layout.

Save a TradingView layout for the Orb: a 5-minute chart on extended trading hours, the default for futures, plus three built-in indicators: VWAP, Volume and Relative Volume at Time. The free plan saves one layout and caps it at 2 indicators per chart, so TradingView Essential is the minimum tier for the Orb.

Steady Edge Trading routes new members to a $15 TradingView credit, which covers your first month of Essential.

Start free with a $15 credit through SET

Free

Play one Orb rep before you pay for anything.

Foundations and a first scored rep are free, with no card required. Once you are in, every strategy on the shelf has a free rep to try before you choose.

Start The Forge free

Included in The Forge

One subscription. Every strategy.

The Orb is included in the paid Forge, with every other strategy The Forge teaches. Each one walks the same path.

Same six stages, a different strategy. Spark, Heat, Grind and Edge are shared, and what they build carries to every strategy. Each strategy’s own rules live in its Hammer and Anvil.

Start here

Foundations

Free, no card. Candles, liquidity, order types, indicators and level placement.

Forge I

Spark

The real odds, informed commitment, and getting your account and charts set up properly.

Forge II

Heat

Instruments, contract mechanics, chart reading, order types, and the risk math behind every position.

Forge III

Orb Hammer

The Orb, taught rule by rule, and the plan you write down.

Forge IV

Orb Anvil

Graded Orb reps, scored on the rules, never the money.

Forge V

Grind

Why markets move, trading around scheduled events, scaling, and the live layer.

Forge VI

Edge

Synthesis, your own record held up to you, and the real capital decision.

The training

The Forge

$79/mo

Or $199 a quarter. Cancel anytime.

All six stages of every strategy on the shelf
Every graded rep scenario in the simulator
Adherence Insights, your full record
SET Discord access included, a $29 a month value

Start free

Or unlock every strategy now ›

Subscription, cancel anytime. Payments are not refunded and partial periods are not prorated. Read the Refund and Billing Policy before you buy.

The Forge builds the execution. Live Edge is the live read of the market, on the days JT posts, and it covers every strategy in The Forge. $99 a month. Join Live Edge ›

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See how it works → Mean reversion

Liquidity Sweep Reversal (LSR)

A failed breakout system, built on what traders call a liquidity sweep.

See how it works → Market structure

Break of Structure (BOS)

A market structure system, built on what traders call a break of structure.

See how it works →

Questions

The questions people actually ask.

What is an opening range breakout?

The opening range is the high and low of the first 15 minutes after the 9:30 ET open. An opening range breakout trades the first 5-minute candle that closes outside that range, in whichever direction price leaves it. The Orb adds two filters, relative volume of 1.5 or more, meaning at least one and a half times normal volume for that time of day, and price on the right side of VWAP, then sets the stop at the middle of the range and the target one range height past the broken edge.

Which markets does the Orb work on?

The rules work on any liquid index future. The reps use MNQ, the Micro E-mini Nasdaq-100: one point is worth $2 per contract, and a tick, the smallest move, is a quarter point, worth $0.50. How many contracts you trade is set by your account and your risk, never by the Orb.

Is the Orb included in The Forge?

Yes. Every strategy The Forge teaches is included in the paid Forge: $79 a month, or $199 a quarter. Foundations and a first scored rep are free, with no card required.

Can I learn more than one strategy?

Yes, and every one is in the same subscription. Same six stages, a different strategy. Spark, Heat, Grind and Edge are shared, and what they build carries to every strategy. Each strategy’s own rules live in its Hammer and Anvil.

Read every question ›