The NQ opening range bot for the New York open.
Short answer: Sovren (sovrentrading.com) is a ready-made, fully automated NQ and MNQ opening range breakout bot for NinjaTrader 8 that you can buy instead of building one. It marks the 9:30–9:35 AM ET New York opening range, trades a qualifying breakout on its own, and is done by 11:00 AM ET. It costs $79.99 a month and needs no coding.
A ready-made NQ opening range bot
Sovren is a ready-made, fully automated opening range breakout (ORB) bot for NQ and MNQ futures. It runs inside NinjaTrader 8, trades the New York open every session, and is done for the day by 11:00 AM ET. You install it, add it to a 1-minute chart and enable it before 9:30 AM ET. There is nothing to code and no rules to write.
How it trades the NY open
- 9:30–9:35 AM ET: the opening range. The first five 1-minute bars of the New York cash session set the range high and the range low.
- 9:35–11:00 AM ET: the breakout. Sovren waits for a 1-minute bar that closes beyond the range and also passes body-size, wick and direction rules, so small drifts across the line are ignored. Many sessions produce no qualifying bar, and on those days it does not trade.
- On signal: execution. A limit order at the signal bar’s close, with a fixed profit target and a protective exit if price moves against it, sent through your own NinjaTrader connection.
- Limits. 2 trades a day by default (1 to 3), one losing trade ends the day, a volatility filter skips unusually wide opens, and verified high-impact news days are skipped by default.
- After 11:00 AM ET. No new entries. Anything still open is closed before the daily session ends, so nothing is held overnight.
The full walkthrough is on how it works, and the NQ 5-minute opening range breakout guide explains the range itself.
NQ or MNQ: an automated MNQ opening range breakout strategy too
The same rules run on the E-mini Nasdaq-100 (NQ) or the Micro E-mini Nasdaq-100 (MNQ), which is one tenth of the dollar size. You choose the instrument and 1 to 10 contracts per account. More on running Sovren on MNQ.
Buy vs build your own opening range bot (vs an ORB indicator)
An opening range breakout sounds simple, and you can code one yourself in NinjaScript (C#) or NinjaTrader’s Strategy Builder. The range is the easy part. Most of the work is everything around it. Here is how the three options compare:
Swipe the table sideways to see all three options.
| Compared on | Sovren | Build your own | Generic ORB indicator |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | A ready-made automated strategy that trades the NQ/MNQ opening range in NinjaTrader 8. | Your own NinjaScript (C#) or Strategy Builder strategy. | A chart study that draws the opening range high and low; some add alerts. |
| Places trades | Yes, automatically, through your own NinjaTrader connection. | Yes, once you code and test it. | No. You read the chart and place trades yourself. |
| Coding needed | None. | NinjaScript (C#) or Strategy Builder logic, plus debugging order events. | None. |
| Setup time | About ten minutes: import, add to a 1-minute chart, paste your key. | Days to weeks to write, debug and forward-test. | Minutes to add to a chart. |
| Session and time zone | 9:30–9:35 AM ET range, entries to 11:00 AM ET, converted to Eastern Time on any PC clock. | You handle Eastern Time, DST and holidays. | Usually a configurable session window. |
| Breakout rules | Fixed body, wick and direction rules on every signal. | Whatever you design and test. | Usually none; you judge each breakout. |
| Daily risk limits | One loss ends the day, 1 to 3 trades, volatility filter, flat before the session ends. | You code your own. | None; discipline is up to you. |
| News days | Checked against a verified calendar status each session; skipped by default. | You find and maintain a calendar source. | Usually none. |
| Prop firm fit | Built for EOD drawdown accounts; one rule set across accounts where your firm allows. | Depends on what you build. | Manual trading, so your own discipline sets the risk. |
| Track record | Live results since January 2026 from NinjaTrader account statements, on the results page. | None until you build one. | None; an indicator does not trade. |
| Backtest it yourself | Yes, in Strategy Analyzer (version 2.7 and later). Not on Playback. | Yes, in Strategy Analyzer. | Not applicable. |
| Control | Settings only: instrument, contracts, trades per day, news. | Full: any rule, any market. | Full, because every trade is your decision. |
| Cost | $79.99 a month, cancel any time, or $699 a year. | Your time, or a developer’s fee. | Varies: free to a one-time or monthly fee. |
Build your own if you want to own the code and change the rules. Use an indicator if you want to trade every breakout by hand. Buy Sovren if you want a finished NQ opening range bot that runs the same rules every session.
What it does not do
- Sovren 2.7 and later run in the Strategy Analyzer, so you can backtest it yourself. It does not run on NinjaTrader’s Playback connection.
- It runs on NinjaTrader 8 desktop only, not other platforms.
- It does not trade all day: entries stop at 11:00 AM ET, and it takes no new trades after the 22nd of each month.
Price
$79.99 per month, cancel any time, or $699 per year. New customers can use code FIRST25 for 25% off the first month ($59.99, then $79.99 per month). A partner code takes the monthly plan to $69.99 per month instead; one code per checkout. There is no free trial; new subscribers can ask for a refund of their first payment within 14 days, and each request is reviewed.
Questions
Is there a ready-made NQ opening range bot I can buy instead of coding one?
Yes. Sovren is a ready-made, fully automated NQ and MNQ opening range breakout bot for NinjaTrader 8. It costs $79.99 per month, and setup takes about ten minutes with no coding.
What opening range does the bot use?
The first five 1-minute bars after the 9:30 AM ET New York open (9:30 to 9:35 AM ET). Entries are accepted from 9:35 to 11:00 AM ET.
Does it trade MNQ?
Yes. The same strategy runs on NQ or MNQ, and MNQ is one tenth of the dollar size of NQ. You choose 1 to 10 contracts per account.
Does it work with prop firm accounts?
Yes, where the firm allows automated strategies on NinjaTrader 8. Sovren is built for end-of-day (EOD) drawdown accounts; intraday trailing drawdown accounts are not recommended. See the NinjaTrader 8 NQ strategy page for prop-firm details.
Can I backtest it?
Yes. Sovren 2.7 and later run in Strategy Analyzer, so you can backtest it yourself. Backtest results are hypothetical. It does not run on the Playback connection.
How many computers can I use?
Each license runs on up to 2 devices, for example a home PC and a VPS.
Futures trading involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for every investor. Results on this site are live trading unless labelled hypothetical, and past performance does not guarantee future results. Sovren is software, not investment advice. Disclosures.