How Sovren trades the open.
One rules-based opening range breakout strategy, run the same way every session. This page walks through a session from before the open to the end of the day.
- Before 09:30
Ready on the chart
Sovren runs on a 1-minute NQ or MNQ chart. It checks its license and today’s news status before the open.
- 09:30–09:35
Opening range
The first five 1-minute bars of the cash session set the range high and range low.
- 09:35–11:00
Qualifying breakout
A bar must close beyond the range and pass the body, wick and direction rules.
- Signal
Automated execution
A limit order at the signal bar’s close, with a fixed profit target and a protective exit if price moves against it.
- In trade
Position management
Daily trade and loss limits and a volatility filter are enforced automatically.
- After 11:00
Session complete
No new entries. Any open position is closed before the daily session ends.
1. Before the open
Enable Sovren on a 1-minute NQ or MNQ chart before 9:30 AM ET. It verifies your license and checks the day’s economic-calendar status. If Sovren is enabled after 9:30, it does not try to catch up: it sits out that session and waits for the next one.
The status badge on the chart shows what it is doing: SOVREN WAITING before the open, SOVREN LIVE once the session is cleared, NEWS DAY when it is sitting out a news session, and SESSION COMPLETE when the day is done.
2. The opening range (9:30–9:35 AM ET)
The opening range is the high and low of the first five 1-minute bars after the New York cash open. Times are converted to Eastern Time, so the range is the same whatever time zone your computer uses.
3. A qualifying breakout
From 9:35 AM ET, Sovren watches for a 1-minute bar that closes above the range high (for a long) or below the range low (for a short). Closing beyond the range is not enough on its own. The bar also has to:
- have a body of a minimum size, so small drifts across the line are ignored;
- close near its extreme, with only a small wick against the direction of the trade;
- follow a bar that moved in the same direction.
Signals are accepted until 11:00 AM ET. Many sessions produce no qualifying bar, and on those days Sovren does not trade.
4. Automated execution
When a bar qualifies, Sovren places a limit order at that bar’s closing price and attaches a fixed profit target. Orders go through your own NinjaTrader connection to your broker or prop firm account; there is no bridge or third-party execution platform. Because the entry is a limit order, it is filled only if price trades back to that level.
5. Position management and limits
- Trades per day. 2 by default, adjustable from 1 to 3.
- Daily loss limit. One losing trade ends the day. No further entries are taken.
- Volatility filter. Signals are skipped when recent 1-minute ranges are unusually wide, with a stricter limit for a third trade.
- Monthly window. No new trades after the 22nd of each month. This is a deliberate filter designed to avoid a later-month environment that has historically been less aligned with the opening-session conditions Sovren is designed to trade. The badge shows SOVREN WAITING on those days.
- Unfilled orders. Pending entry orders are cancelled once a limit is reached or the session is no longer cleared to trade.
How trades close. Every trade has a fixed profit target. Sovren also watches each open position and closes it at market if price moves a set distance against it. This protective exit is managed by the strategy rather than a resting stop order, so it only works while NinjaTrader is running and connected, and in fast markets a market exit can fill worse than the trigger price. Anything still open shortly before the end of the daily futures session is closed automatically, so nothing is held overnight.
6. News days
Each session is checked against a verified economic-calendar status. On scheduled high-impact news days Sovren sits out by default, and the badge shows NEWS DAY. If you prefer to trade those sessions, turn on Trade news and the badge shows TRADING NEWS. If a day’s status cannot be verified, Sovren sits out.
7. What you control
- Instrument. NQ, or MNQ at one tenth of the dollar size.
- Contracts. 1 to 10 per account.
- Max trades. 1, 2 or 3 per session.
- Trade news. Off by default.
- Account. Any NinjaTrader 8 account your broker or prop firm allows to run automated strategies.
8. What you need
- NinjaTrader 8 with a data feed and a connected broker or prop firm account.
- A 1-minute NQ or MNQ chart on the default CME US Index Futures ETH trading hours.
- A computer or VPS that stays on and connected through the New York session. Because an open trade can be held until the daily session close, keep NinjaTrader running until you are flat.
What Sovren is not
Sovren is a price-based strategy that reads 1-minute bars on your chart. It does not read order flow, institutional orders or any proprietary data feed, and it is not investment advice. Futures trading involves substantial risk of loss. Read the full disclosures.