The first hour of RTH trading generally has the most opportunities for an intraday trader. It is also the time of day that is most likely to have fake outs and extremely violent moves. Taking that into consideration, we need a proper methodology so that we don’t get caught significantly off sides right at the open.

In the preparation section we discussed the importance of having proper expectations for the upcoming session. When we put in the time to work on our preparation and go through that routine each morning, we will consistently come into the open knowing what to expect and have all of our key areas marked.

The Opening Range

Historically the official opening range of the CME is the high and low of the first 30 seconds of the market open, otherwise known as the opening range. Many traders utilize this as their over under area looking for breakouts from that range. As I developed over the years as a trader I looked for longer time periods to help slow me down at the open. In doing so, I started to us a 5 minute opening range and in retrospect its one best changes I have implemented in my trading. In addition to slowing myself down I also noticed a very clean setup that I then later back-tested and since have shared in many forums, known as the 5Min OR Mid Trade.

You can read about this specific trade setup here.

There are many ways to trade the opening print, I would argue the most newer traders would be best served not being very active at the open. However, even if you don't trade right at the open, you can still observe it and be aware of early clues for conditions on the day and when combined together with good preparation you'll be well prepared for what the market throughs at you.

What Kind of Open Are We Facing?

There are three key types to know:

• Open Drive: Aggressive directional move with minimal pullbacks.

• Open Test Drive: A drive to a reference point—overnight high/low or gap fill—that reverses.

• Open Auction: Choppy, multi-point rotation around reference levels (often the most intraday rotations).

Each type calls for a different game plan. Knowing what to expect allows you to walk in prepared, without bias—your mindset remains objective and strategy-driven.

Open Drive

Market opens and drives in a single direction.

These do not occur frequently, but generally involve violent moves in a single direction with very shallow pullbacks and no regard for levels or other MGI reference points.

Open Test Drive

Market opens and drives to a reference point, usually overnight high/low or prior day close, gap fills and then reverses.

These occur more often than the open drive and provide significant opportunity when recognized to trade with the reversal.

Open Auction

Market opens and uses multiple reference points to trade around, many will call this “chop”.

These occur more frequently then the prior 2 and will often provide more opportunity for intraday traders because there are multiple rotations to trade with in both directions.

The work we put into our preparation can help us anticipate what open type we might have. Are we expecting big news soon in the next few days? Do we have multiple days of overlapping value and RVOL is in the 90s? Perhaps we will want to plan for an open auction trade and look for a mean reverting balance day. Did we open in a small gap down? Perhaps we will look for an open test drive where we fill the gap and reverse to test some levels lower.

There are many scenarios and puzzle pieces that we can put together to develop an idea of what might happen in the market once the bell rings. Instead of flooding ourselves with bias, we look at the market objectively and plan for all scenarios. This allows us to have an action plan regardless of where the market decides to go, and we are ready to capitalize on whatever ends up playing out.