The 15 Minute Opening Range Breakout Strategy (2026 Update)
Loses money
No edge after realistic trading costs
- trades tested
- 6,057
- per trade after costs
- -2.96bp
- winners
- 24%
- years of data
- 15.9
Trades the breakout of the first 15-minute candle of the RTH session on S&P 500 futures, using a fixed 4-point stop loss and a 20-point profit target when VIX is below 25.
The exact rules we tested
- 01Instrument: SPX | Signal timeframe: 15m | Direction: both
- 02Session: 09:30-16:00 (exchange tz), flat at session end
- 03No new entries after 11:00
- 04LONG when: close > orb_high
- 05SHORT when: close < orb_low
- 06Entry: stop order at the break of the signal bar high/low (expires after 3 bars)
- 07Stop: 4.0 points
- 08Target: 20.0 points