Opening Ranges: Breakout, Retest, and Failed-Break Entry Models

Video: Once You Master This Scalping Strategy, Trading Becomes Ridiculously Simple
Creator: Jdub Trades
Original Video: Watch the original video
Difficulty: Intermediate

The Big Idea

The opening range is a shared reference for several different decisions. A break beyond it, a later retest that holds, and a return back inside it describe different events. Choosing the event in advance helps avoid calling every move a valid setup after seeing the result.

The First Candle Is a Measurement Window

The source focuses on the first sixty to ninety minutes after the US cash-equity open. It describes both a five-minute opening range and a fifteen-minute opening range, using each window’s high and low as the principal boundaries. Inside the range, the creator is more cautious about direction.

A five-minute range beginning at 9:30 is complete at 9:35. A fifteen-minute range is complete at 9:45. Before those times, the eventual high and low are unknown. They can be displayed as developing context, but a test cannot use their final values to justify an earlier entry.

The transcript calls the open Eastern Standard Time. A practical chart specification should use America/New_York, which follows the seasonal clock, instead of assuming a fixed UTC offset throughout the year. Other venues and instruments may have different session openings; this guide does not transfer 9:30 to every market.

Choose the Entry Model Before the Outcome

The creator’s preferred model is the break and retest. For a bullish version, price first closes above the range high. A subsequent return holds that boundary, supplying a possible long location. The bearish version uses the range low from below. A touch during the breakout candle itself does not prove a later retest occurred.

The reversal version depends on a different interpretation of context. A failed upper break can motivate a move toward the lower boundary, while a failed lower break can motivate a move upward. Do not simultaneously count the same candle as a successful continuation and a successful reversal without defining what happened next.

Range Length and Confirmation Length Are Separate Choices

The source pairs the five-minute range with one-minute closes for a more aggressive approach. It pairs the fifteen-minute range with five-minute confirmation, sometimes refining an entry on one minute. Its stated reason is to adapt the pace of the observation to the expected environment.

The companion indicator intentionally uses the chart candle’s close for all classifications. Thus a one-minute chart with a fifteen-minute range does not reproduce five-minute confirmation. If studying that source variant, use a five-minute chart or specify the additional completed-five-minute condition independently.

A faster confirmation creates more opportunities for price to move back through the boundary. A slower one can reduce some transient crosses while worsening entry distance. The relevant comparison is executable outcomes per eligible opening, including no-retest days, rather than the attractiveness of selected candles.

Context Must Be Recorded Before the Bell

The presentation considers an earnings-related gap, premarket extremes, the opening print, and VWAP. These references can explain why the creator favors one direction or one entry model. They do not guarantee a trend day, and a gap can reverse quickly.

The transcript repeatedly names a particular company in its example, but text alone is insufficient to validate the symbol, account screenshots, contract chain, or reported monthly and single-trade profits. This guide treats those as source-reported material and does not convert them into verified historical records or current recommendations.

The commentary also uses several different stop references, including a local candle low and an opening-range low. They are not interchangeable. Write the exact invalidation before sizing, because a wider range stop can require a substantially smaller position than a nearby candle stop.

With a hypothetical $100 price-distance budget, the local-stop calculation gives 500 shares, while the wider-stop calculation gives about 142 shares after rounding down. Both calculations omit costs and assume fills at the stated prices. They express planned exposure to a stop distance, not a guarantee that losses cannot exceed $100.

Underlying Signals Do Not Establish Option Returns

The source’s live commentary discusses option strikes and percentage changes in premiums. A short move in the underlying cannot be translated directly into a fixed percentage gain on an option. Time to expiry, implied volatility, spread, and the selected contract all matter.

The indicator below operates on the underlying chart only. It does not identify an option contract or claim to reconstruct a premium return. A reported profitable execution also does not establish how many losing, skipped, or unfilled opportunities occurred in the wider sample.

Prepare a Small Session Card

1. Clock: record the market, timezone, and 9:30 opening convention.
2. Window: choose five or fifteen minutes before the session.
3. Context: save the premarket references and directional hypothesis.
4. Model: specify breakout, later retest, or failed-break conditions.
5. Risk: name the invalidation, objective, and combined position budget.
6. Review: retain failed breaks, missed retests, and no-trade openings.

Pine Script Indicator

//@version=6
// Guide: https://candlechasers.com/opening-range-three-entry-models/
// Original educational approximation; no orders, fills or performance claims.
indicator("CC Opening Range Event Map", overlay=true)
minutes = input.int(5, "Opening range minutes", options=[5, 15])
zone = input.string("America/New_York", "Clock timezone")
valid = chart.is_standard and timeframe.isminutes and timeframe.multiplier <= 5 and minutes % timeframe.multiplier == 0
start = timestamp(zone, year(time, zone), month(time, zone), dayofmonth(time, zone), 9, 30)
finish = start + minutes * 60000
inWindow = time >= start and time < finish
var float rh = na
var float rl = na
var int ref = na
var int covered = 0
var bool full = false
var int upBreak = na
var int downBreak = na
var bool upUsed = false
var bool downUsed = false
bool longRetest = false
bool shortRetest = false
bool longFailure = false
bool shortFailure = false
bool breakoutUp = false
bool breakoutDown = false
if valid and barstate.isconfirmed
    if inWindow and time == start
        rh := high
        rl := low
        ref := start
        covered := int(time_close - time)
        full := false
        upBreak := na
        downBreak := na
        upUsed := false
        downUsed := false
    else if inWindow and ref == start
        rh := math.max(rh, high)
        rl := math.min(rl, low)
        covered += int(time_close - time)
    if ref == start and time >= finish and covered == minutes * 60000
        full := true
    bool eligible = full and ref == start and time >= finish and time_close <= start + 90 * 60000
    if eligible
        if not na(upBreak) and bar_index > upBreak
            longRetest := not upUsed and low <= rh and close > rh
            shortFailure := close < rh and close > rl
            if longRetest
                upUsed := true
            if shortFailure
                upBreak := na
        if not na(downBreak) and bar_index > downBreak
            shortRetest := not downUsed and high >= rl and close < rl
            longFailure := close > rl and close < rh
            if shortRetest
                downUsed := true
            if longFailure
                downBreak := na
        breakoutUp := close > rh and close[1] <= rh
        breakoutDown := close < rl and close[1] >= rl
        if breakoutUp
            upBreak := bar_index
        if breakoutDown
            downBreak := bar_index
plot(valid ? rh : na, "OR high (developing until complete)", color=color.red, linewidth=2, style=plot.style_stepline)
plot(valid ? rl : na, "OR low (developing until complete)", color=color.lime, linewidth=2, style=plot.style_stepline)
plotshape(breakoutUp or breakoutDown, "Completed breakout close", shape.circle, location.abovebar, color.gray, size=size.tiny)
plotshape(longRetest, "Later high retest holds", shape.triangleup, location.belowbar, color.aqua, size=size.small)
plotshape(shortRetest, "Later low retest holds", shape.triangledown, location.abovebar, color.orange, size=size.small)
plotshape(longFailure or shortFailure, "Breakout returns inside", shape.diamond, location.abovebar, color.fuchsia, size=size.tiny)
alertcondition(longRetest or shortRetest, "OR retest context", "CC: later opening-range retest holds at bar close. Review bias, risk and execution.")
var table status = table.new(position.top_right, 1, 2, bgcolor=color.new(color.black, 10))
if barstate.islast
    table.cell(status, 0, 0, not valid ? "Use standard 1 or 5-minute candles" : ref != start ? "Prior range context; awaiting 09:30 start" : not full ? "Building OR / incomplete window: no signals" : "Completed OR | signals only first 90 minutes", text_color=color.white)
    table.cell(status, 0, 1, zone + " | dots break; triangles retest; diamonds failed break", text_color=color.white)

What This Indicator Shows

The red and green boundaries develop during the chosen window, then freeze if the entire window was observed. Use standard one- or five-minute candles; the chart interval must divide the selected five- or fifteen-minute range. The status panel distinguishes building, complete, and prior-range context. Gray dots indicate breakout closes, triangles indicate later retests, and magenta diamonds indicate returns inside after a break. Each direction can generate one retest marker per opening range; failed-break diamonds can recur after a new breakout cycle. Markers stop after the first ninety minutes from 9:30.

What This Indicator Does Not Show

It does not choose the correct model for the day, inspect catalysts, detect VWAP confluence, verify an option return, or place orders. Missing opening data suppress completion and signals; retained prior-range lines remain context. The definition of a retest is an exact boundary touch with a close back on the breakout side, an original simplification. A fresh breakout can rearm its direction, but the one-retest allowance does not reset until the next observed opening window.

Setup and Validation

Paste the complete script into TradingView’s Pine Editor, save it, and add it to a standard candlestick chart with enough history. Read the status panel and reference plots before expecting a marker. Check the specified chart interval and session inputs. For scripts with alert conditions, use Once Per Bar Close and recreate alerts after changing the code or its settings.

Validation status: Reviewed statically for source-versus-proxy distinctions, completed-bar timing, future-data use, persistent state, reference replacement, expiry, and visible output. This script has not been compiled or chart-tested in TradingView here. No performance or live-execution results are claimed. Use replay to inspect the described behavior; static review does not replace compilation and chart validation.

Research and Replay Lab

These are proposed learning experiments, not results established by the source. Change one main feature at a time, retain failures and missing opportunities, and reserve a later period for evaluation rather than repeatedly selecting settings from the same examples.

Does waiting for a retest help?

For every completed five-minute range, compare the first breakout-close proposal with the first later retest proposal. Keep stops, targets, session cutoff, instrument, and costs consistent. Record missing retests as untriggered opportunities rather than deleting them. Compare both per-trigger and per-opening results.

Which confirmation pace matters?

Compare one-minute and five-minute confirmation while keeping the fifteen-minute reference range unchanged. Record time of qualification, entry distance, and false returns inside. A slower bar’s final high and low must not be used before its close.

Does the ninety-minute cutoff matter?

Use the same fixed definitions to compare the first sixty and ninety minutes after the open. Count qualified events, missed fills, and trading costs. Keep a later evaluation period untouched while developing the definitions.

Check Your Understanding

When is the fifteen-minute range known? At 9:45 in the selected opening clock, after the window closes.

Is a breakout candle’s own wick a later retest? No. A later retest requires a subsequent observation.

Does a one-minute chart automatically confirm a five-minute close? No. The companion code uses the chart close.

Can an option gain be inferred from the underlying percentage move? No. Contract pricing and execution are additional variables.

What belongs in the sample besides winners? Failed breaks, no-retest openings, skipped candidates, and unfilled proposals.

Final Takeaway

The opening range organizes location, but the chosen entry model determines what evidence is required. Fix the window, clock, confirmation pace, and stop definition before judging the outcome. Compare missed opportunities as well as trades that triggered.

Risk Disclosure

This material is educational and is not personalized financial, investment, or trading advice. Trading can cause substantial losses. Examples, source-reported results, and chart observations do not establish future performance. Hypothetical calculations depend on their assumptions and omit costs unless stated. Spread, fees, slippage, gaps, leverage, liquidity, financing, and contract terms can materially change outcomes. Indicators do not simulate broker execution or establish profitability. Options involve additional contract, expiry, exercise, and valuation risks. Evaluate any approach with appropriate data and realistic risk limits before considering live use.

This is an independent educational companion and is not affiliated with, sponsored by, endorsed by, or authorized by the source creator, channel, or TradingView.