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Open gate

NAS100 · 1m chart · strategy s38_open_gate · 1 variation

Mark the first 5 minutes of New York, wait for a break in the direction of that candle, and join on the retest of the edge.

What it is about

The first 5 minutes of New York often show which side wants control. A break of that range in the same direction, followed by a retest, gives a defined entry and stop.

Most of the edge comes from the first candle's direction. The retest gives a clear place to enter and a stop near recent structure.

How it trades

Chart & market
Nasdaq 100, 1-minute candles.
Range
High and low of 09:30-09:35 New York.
Direction
Only the side of the first 5-minute candle: green for buys, red for sells.
Break
A 1-minute close beyond the range.
Entry
A later candle touches the broken edge and closes back beyond it in the trade's colour, before 12:00. Market order at that close.
Stop
The extreme of the last 5 candles and the entry candle. Stops under 0.03% or over 0.4% of price are skipped.
Exit
A fixed 5R target, the stop, or the 16:00 close.
Tries
Up to 2 trades a day, one at a time.

09:35-12:00 New York, about 22 trades a month.

What to expect
  • About 1 trade in 4 wins. The target is 5R, so winners pay for many small losses.
  • Backtest 2019-today (zero cost): 2,079 trades, +354.9R, largest drop 38.2R, no losing year.
  • With the settings picked blind in walk-forward: about +33R to +49R a year, depending on the window.
Risks and caveats
  • Long losing runs: 20 losses in a row in the backtest.
  • It is sensitive to spread: at 3 times the normal spread, 2019-23 turns negative.
  • Most of the edge is the first candle's direction, so it overlaps our other opening strategies, mainly s06 and s17.
  • Real-tick fills have not been checked yet, and the settings were chosen with all the data visible.

Where it comes from

The range, break and retest come from the YouTube video "This Simple Trading Strategy Works" (elevatedlife.com, 2026-11-02). The candle direction filter, stop, target and retries come from our testing.

Main variation: s38-A ★ Main

Live result
0.0R
0 closed · 0 open · zero cost
Backtest total
+354.9R
2,079 trades · +0.17R a trade · win 26%
Backtest max drawdown
−38.2R
total ÷ drawdown 9.3
Years won
8/8
22.3 trades / month
Backtest R per year (zero cost), s38-A
0.0R25.0R50.0R75.0R100.0R20192020202120222023202420252026

The variations

Each variation is the same strategy with a different approach, trading its own paper account. Click one to see exactly what it changes.

s38-AFirst candle direction, 5R target★ Main

Retest of the first 5-minute range with that candle's colour, stop at the recent swing, 5R target, up to 2 tries a day.

Variations side by side

Live result of all 1 together: 0.0R (zero cost).

Live paper account (R, zero cost)Backtest 2018 – today (R, zero cost)
s38-A★ MainOpen gateNAS1001m–0––+354.9R+0.17R8/822.326%−38.2R

Main = the variation with the most backtest R per R of max drawdown (2018 – today, zero cost). It is picked on that history, so the live accounts are the real test.