Buy at opening candle range breakoutlong
Backtest Results @ SPY β€’ 30 Minutes

This intraday breakout strategy seeks to enter once price breads above the opening candle High, at any stage of a day. It takes profit on Opening Range High+Opening Range Size, and it has a stop loss at Opening Range Low. It never carries a position overnight; it always exits at the last candle of a day in case if no other exit conditions were met.

Equity Curve

Backtest covers 3.1 years of SPY β€’ 30 Minutes (SPDR S&P 500) data, from July 5, 2022 to August 1, 2025.

Equity curve is the strategy's performance over time. You should compare it to the asset's Buy & Hold performance. In general, you want the blue area to be well above the gray area.

Drawdown is how much losses (realized or unrealized) the strategy has had if compared to the highest equity peak. Compare this to the asset's drawdown to see whether your strategy does a decent job of isolating you from downside volatility. In general, the red area must be well within the gray area.

Equity Curve
Strategy
Asset
Strategy Drawdown
Asset Drawdown

So, we have backtested Buy at opening candle range breakout on 3.1 years of SPY β€’ 30 Minutes candles.Β This backtest resulted in 466 positions, with the average win rate of 63% and reward-risk ratio of 0.71.Β If you assume that 0.71 reward-to-risk ratio holds, you need a minimum win rate of 58.5 to be profitable. So you're looking good so far.Β The key metrics are as follows:

  1. Total Return: Total Return: 18.10% vs 65.60% for the asset
  2. Max Drawdown: Max Drawdown: -6.80% vs -20.20% for the asset
  3. Exposure: Exposure: 34.60% time in the market
  4. Win Rate: Win Rate: 63.0%, vs 58.5% minimum
  5. Reward/Risk Ratio: Reward/Risk Ratio: 0.71

With that exposure in mind, you can tell that for 35% time-in-market, you get 27.59% of the asset upside potential, and 33.66% of the asset downside potential.

Buy at opening candle range breakout: enter a position when

All of the following: # Papa
  30min Opening range JS, Entry Signal emerged

Buy at opening candle range breakout: exit a position when

All of the following: # X-ray
  30min Opening range JS, Exit Signal emerged

Buy at opening candle range breakout @ SPY β€’ 30 Minutes (18.1%) backtest results explained by Alex C, Mike, Sarah

Alex C

Author

The strategy shows some interesting characteristics, but I have concerns about its efficiency. The win rate of 63% looks good at first glance, but when we consider the Risk/Reward ratio of 0.71, it becomes problematic. This means our winners are smaller than our losers, which puts pressure on maintaining that high win rate.

The market exposure of 34.6% with only 18.1% net profit over 3.1 years is not optimal, especially when compared to the buy & hold profit of 65.6%. The Sharpe ratio of 0.51 and Sortino ratio of 0.38 are both below what I would consider acceptable for a systematic trading strategy. What catches my attention though is the relatively low drawdown of -6.8% compared to the asset's -20.2% - this suggests good risk management charakteristics.

From pure mathematics perspective, the strategy is viable because the actual win rate (63%) exceeds the minimal sufficient win rate (58.5%). However, I would be concerned about the strategy's ability to generate meaningful returns in different market conditions. The performance by time periods shows significant inconsistency, which makes me skeptical about its robustness. I would recommend to either optimize the exit rules to improve the Risk/Reward ratio or look for additional filters to reduce the number of trades while maintaining the positive charakteristics.

Mike

Author

Yo fam, this opening range breakout strategy on SPY is giving some interesting vibes! πŸ€” The 63% win rate is pretty sweet, and that 6.8% max drawdown is way better than SPY's 20.2% drawdown - that's some serious risk management right there! πŸ’ͺ

The strategy is doing about 25 trades per month which is perfect for us Wendy's warriors - not too crazy on commissions but enough action to keep it spicy! The average hold time of 6.4 candles means we're not bagholding forever, just quick in-and-out plays which I'm totally down with. Love that it only keeps us in the market 34.6% of the time - means we're not exposed during all the choppy nonsense.

Not gonna lie though, that 18.1% total return vs SPY's 65.6% over 3 years is kinda weak sauce πŸ˜… But hear me out - the low correlation (0.44) and beta (0.20) mean this could be a solid complement to a buy-and-hold portfolio. Plus that 6241.5% win rate leeway is insane! Means the strategy has room to breathe even if market conditions get a bit rough. To the moon! πŸš€

Sarah

Author

Madre mΓ­a, this strategy is a complete disaster! The numbers are screaming "mediocre" from every angle.

Look at that pathetic 18.1% net profit over 3.1 years while the market made 65.6%! You would have done better throwing darts at a board blindfolded or simply buying and holding like any sensible investor. The market exposure of 34.6% shows you're missing most of the actual moves - what a joke!

The win rate of 63% might look decent at first glance, but when you look at the miserable average win size of 0.33% versus -0.46% average loss, it's clear this strategy is bleeding money slowly. A risk/reward ratio of 0.71 means you're risking more than you're making on each trade - this is Trading 101 stuff that you're getting wrong!

The most alarming thing is the volatility of performance across different time periods. One month you're up 0.1%, then three months you're down -3.2% - there's no consistency! And that pathetic Sharpe ratio of 0.51 confirms what I suspected - this strategy is barely better than gambling.

My honest advice? Throw this strategy in the garbage where it belongs. You're wasting your time with these amateur hour signals. Either develop something with actual edge or just buy an index fund and save yourself the headache.

Tabular metrics of Buy at opening candle range breakout backtested on SPY β€’ 30 Minutes

Total Trades466Net Profit18.1%Buy & Hold Profit65.6%
Win Rate63%Reward/Risk Ratio0.71Max Drawdown-6.8%
Asset Max Drawdown-20.2%Exposure34.6%Avg Candles in Position6.4
Sharpe Ratio0.51Sortino Ratio0.38Realized Volatility6.49%
Max Winning Streak11Avg Winning Streak2.8Max Losing Streak6
Avg Losing Streak1.6Avg Trades per Month24.9Avg Trades per Day0.8
Return Std Dev0.6Loss Std Dev0.5Win Std Dev0.4
Expectancy0.1Beta0.2

All backtests for Buy at opening candle range breakout

backtestexposurepeformance vs assetdrawdown vs assetwin%reward/risk
BTCUSDT β€’ 10 Minutes
15%(1.0%/4.2%) 0.24x(-4.6%/-11.1%) 0.41x560.9
EURUSD β€’ 10 Minutes
22%(0.8%/2.1%) 0.38x(-1.7%/-3.6%) 0.47x870.2
GLD β€’ 10 Minutes
24%(0.8%/39.2%) 0.02x(-2.6%/-8.3%) 0.31x600.7
NVDA β€’ 10 Minutes
32%(25.9%/41.7%) 0.62x(-15.6%/-42.8%) 0.36x541.1
PLTR β€’ 10 Minutes
33%(38.1%/439.0%) 0.09x(-25.4%/-46.5%) 0.55x581.0
SPY β€’ 10 Minutes
22%(16.4%/12.3%) 1.33x(-5.5%/-20.7%) 0.27x680.8
TSLA β€’ 10 Minutes
29%(-7.9%/23.0%) -0.34x(-34.7%/-55.3%) 0.63x600.7
WMT β€’ 10 Minutes
32%(13.3%/40.0%) 0.33x(-9.1%/-23.8%) 0.38x630.8
BTCUSDT β€’ 15 Minutes
20%(2.3%/33.4%) 0.07x(-7.2%/-12.0%) 0.60x521.1
EURUSD β€’ 15 Minutes
27%(3.9%/8.2%) 0.48x(-1.4%/-4.3%) 0.33x830.3
GLD β€’ 15 Minutes
31%(4.0%/66.4%) 0.06x(-4.4%/-8.3%) 0.53x590.8
NVDA β€’ 15 Minutes
34%(69.7%/211.7%) 0.33x(-10.1%/-42.8%) 0.24x571.2
PLTR β€’ 15 Minutes
33%(124.3%/846.9%) 0.15x(-14.3%/-46.5%) 0.31x561.4
SPY β€’ 15 Minutes
24%(13.3%/31.8%) 0.42x(-4.4%/-21.1%) 0.21x620.8
TSLA β€’ 15 Minutes
27%(16.3%/41.6%) 0.39x(-20.0%/-55.6%) 0.36x560.9
WMT β€’ 15 Minutes
33%(27.2%/83.0%) 0.33x(-4.9%/-23.8%) 0.21x640.9
BTCUSDT β€’ 30 Minutes
21%(-3.7%/14.3%) -0.26x(-20.8%/-31.2%) 0.67x570.7
EURUSD β€’ 30 Minutes
35%(-1.1%/5.7%) -0.19x(-5.2%/-7.4%) 0.70x750.3
GLD β€’ 30 Minutes
34%(11.1%/87.3%) 0.13x(-6.9%/-11.8%) 0.58x551.0
NVDA β€’ 30 Minutes
34%(58.6%/1089.5%) 0.05x(-29.2%/-42.9%) 0.68x541.1
PLTR β€’ 30 Minutes
30%(19.4%/1516.1%) 0.01x(-41.6%/-48.4%) 0.86x540.9
SPY β€’ 30 Minutes
35%(18.1%/65.6%) 0.28x(-6.8%/-20.2%) 0.34x630.7
TSLA β€’ 30 Minutes
29%(62.0%/33.8%) 1.83x(-20.9%/-67.1%) 0.31x561.0
WMT β€’ 30 Minutes
32%(32.0%/138.6%) 0.23x(-6.5%/-23.8%) 0.27x581.1
BTCUSDT β€’ 5 Minutes
18%(2.2%/5.7%) 0.39x(-2.1%/-8.9%) 0.24x641.0
EURUSD β€’ 5 Minutes
23%(0.7%/0.8%) 0.87x(-0.7%/-3.7%) 0.19x880.2
GLD β€’ 5 Minutes
23%(-3.0%/21.5%) -0.14x(-7.3%/-8.0%) 0.91x610.5
NVDA β€’ 5 Minutes
29%(14.6%/42.5%) 0.34x(-9.3%/-38.8%) 0.24x610.9
PLTR β€’ 5 Minutes
26%(18.3%/95.6%) 0.19x(-14.7%/-46.6%) 0.32x551.1
SPY β€’ 5 Minutes
14%(5.4%/3.4%) 1.59x(-4.0%/-21.1%) 0.19x610.9
TSLA β€’ 5 Minutes
21%(47.4%/-22.2%) -2.14x(-7.1%/-48.5%) 0.15x680.9
WMT β€’ 5 Minutes
27%(12.5%/1.2%) 10.42x(-4.8%/-23.8%) 0.20x630.9