Tag Archives: Opening Range

I've long been a fan of Opening Range (OR) theory and the way that it allows us to quickly and easily identify a "bigger picture" session bias.

So last week we played around with that concept and explored it's application in new areas of the chart.

We took the concept of OR theory and applied it not just to the opening bar of the session, but to multiple bars throughout the session as well.

In my own trading, using the 1-minute Trading Timeframe, I apply this to the opening candle for every 30 minute block of data.

This allows me to not only have the "bigger picture" session-wide bias, but to also get a feel for the bias on a shorter timescale as well.

Think of it as being like multiple-timeframe analysis. The standard OR provides a bigger picture session-wide bias. The 30 minute OR’s provide a picture of the shorter-term bias “inside” that bigger picture bias.

You can find last week's article here if you missed it – https://yourtradingcoach.com/trading-process-and-strategy/a-simple-alternative-means-of-assessing-short-term-bias/

At the most basic level, analysis of a single 30M OR block can provide us with two primary pieces of information:

1. A sense for the short-term directional bias. Price movement above the OR is bullish. Price movement below the OR is bearish. And price movement stuck at the OR is neutral.
2. A feel for the underlying strength or weakness within this directional bias. Fast-flowing price movement with little overlap shows a strong supply/demand imbalance. Whereas overlapping, choppy action suggests a much more balanced market.

Let's look at some examples of this information as applied to individual 30M blocks:

The real strength of this method though, is not in analysis of an individual 30M OR block.

Rather it comes through assessing the information from the current OR block within the context of either the overall session bias or the preceding couple of OR blocks.

If you like this, I highly encourage you to play around with the charts and see what other information you can gather, in relating one single OR block to those preceding it.

Again though, to reinforce a point from our prior article…

This is not my primary tool for conducting analysis.

I assess short-term bias through six "rules of thumb" which allow me to project the current trend forward in time, identifying the highest probability path for the next couple of price swings. I share this method in my eBook series (Chapter 3). The same applies for the method I use to assess strength and weakness within the trend. Also Chapter 3.

Short-term OR Theory is something that has crept into my analysis process over time, which acts to nicely complement the existing methods.

Sometimes it acts simply to confirm my other analysis. And other times it provides a slightly different perspective.

Either way, I find it adds value.

If this idea appeals to you, try it alongside your current methods of analysis and see if you find the same benefits.

Happy trading,

Lance Beggs

I highly recommend spending some time every now and then just playing with your charts.

Try something new.

Or see if you can apply old ideas in new ways.

Just occasionally, you may find something useful.

Today I'd like to share a simple tool that I've been using for the last few years, alongside my existing approach to assessing short-term market bias and the strength or weakness within the price action.

IMPORTANT NOTE: This is not my primary tool for conducting analysis.

I assess short-term bias through six "rules of thumb" which allow me to project the current trend forward in time, identifying the highest probability path for the next couple of price swings. I don't share this in the newsletter or blog (sorry!). If you're interested you'll need to see my ebook series (Chapter 3). The same applies for the methods I use to assess strength and weakness within the trend. Also Chapter 3.

What we discuss today is something that has crept into my analysis process over time, which acts to nicely complement the existing methods.

Sometimes it acts simply to confirm my other analysis. And other times it provides a slightly different perspective.

Either way, it adds value.

This discovery came about through "playing" with Opening Range theory and seeing where else it could be applied.

We've discussed the Opening Range previously in a few articles if you want some background reading – https://yourtradingcoach.com/tag/opening-range/.

Here is the general concept:

So now, let's apply this in a new way.

I first hinted at this idea way back in 2013 via a series of two facebook posts:

First this one…  (and I guess I've kind of given away the answer!!!)

And then the next day, this post:

I've never seen anyone else do this. I'm not sure why? I think it's an absolutely brilliant method of maintaining an intra-session bias. And it works just beautifully as an additional method to support other YTC Price Action Trader analysis.

The hourly open is a significant occurrence, visible to traders on all timeframes from 1H down to 1M. As such, opening range theory applied to the first Trading Timeframe candle at this point works well in giving a quick indication of current bias as either bullish, bearish or neutral.

The same applies for 30 minute opens, if you prefer to look at this even more short-term. My preference has shifted to using the opening 1 minute candle, each 30 minutes. I find this works well for the 1 minute trading timeframe. If your trading timeframe is higher then just increase the size of the segment as appropriate. Those trading 3 or 5 min charts will likely find one hour segments better than 30 minute segments. Higher trading timeframes may even find value with 2H or 4H groups.

Again… I'm not sure why we don't see this used more often. Give it a try! I love it!

I'm not going to reveal all I've found in using this approach. I want you to play with it. Explore the idea on some charts. Run it alongside your current methods. If it adds no value, drop it. But maybe… and I suspect this will be the case for many… it will become a quite useful tool in your trading toolkit.

A quick starting point though:

Within the context of the "bigger picture" session bias and other analysis information available from standard opening range theory, we now have a method of assessing the same information on a shorter timescale.

So as with the standard approach, price movement from the 1H or 30M Opening Range gives us insight into either bullish or bearish or neutral bias. And the ease with which price moves away gives insight into the strength and weakness.

But now, instead of just being able to reference price to the Opening Range, we also have the ability to:

(a) Reference the shorter-term 1H or 30M bias information to the longer-term session bias information, as the shorter-term acts to move with or against the longer-term bias.

(b) Reference the current 1H or 30M bias information to that obtained from the previous one or two 1H or 30M segments.

That is, we get information into the way that price is moving. Is it stable, maintaining previous direction, pace and volatility? Or is something changing?

I might leave this here for now.

Again, rather than provide examples, I'd like you to play with this idea and see what you think.

Plot an opening range box around the first "trading timeframe" candle each 30 minutes (or one hour).

If there seems to be any interest then I'll follow up with a part-two in coming weeks, looking at the short-term 30M Opening Range on a few price charts.

Happy trading,

Lance Beggs