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The hypothesis: many traders believe the first 15 minutes of the session set the tone for the day. A break above that opening range can signal real intent — and a small range might just be noise, while a wide one suggests stronger conviction. In this beginner tutorial you’ll build that breakout, backtest it, then add one filter that only trades on a wide opening range.
Past performance does not guarantee future results. Always test before you trade.

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Build it

Sign in

Open askfutures.com and sign in. New here? Create an account and start your free trial first — the quickstart walks through it.
The AskFutures new-chat screen

Describe the breakout

Paste this prompt exactly and send it:
Your prompt
Buy Micro Nasdaq when price breaks above the first 15-minute high,
and exit if it closes back below the midpoint of that range
You don’t have to mention bars, dates, or directions. Because this is a day-trading idea, AskFutures applies its defaults — last 1 year, 1-minute bars — and adds an end-of-day exit, so any open trade closes at the session close. It tells you each assumption it made.

Watch the strategy card appear

AskFutures turns your sentence into precise rules. The strategy card shows the entry (a break above the first 15-minute high), the exit (a close back below the range midpoint), and a Strategy Flow chart of the logic. See strategies for what each part means.
The AskFutures strategy card for the opening-range breakout

Read the backtest

The backtest tab shows the equity curve and the headline numbers — net P&L, win rate, and drawdown — over the last year of real prices, net of modeled slippage and commission. Look at the shape of the equity curve, not just the final number: is it a steady climb or a few lucky days? See run and read a backtest.
The backtest results for the opening-range breakout

Refine: only trade a wide range

Now test the “intent” idea. A small opening range might be noise; a wide one suggests the move has fuel behind it. Add one filter — send this:
Refine it
Trade only if the opening range is over $400
AskFutures keeps everything else and adds the filter as a new saved version. Compare the two equity curves: did filtering for a wide range thin out the noise, or just cut your trade count? See version and compare.
Comparing the breakout before and after the wide-range filter
These results are hypothetical and simulated — no real trades were placed. Because no order actually hit the market, results may under- or over-state live outcomes. Past performance, actual or simulated, does not guarantee future results. Always test before you trade.

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What you learned

You took one plain-English sentence to a full strategy and backtest, then tested a hypothesis — wide ranges show intent — by adding a single filter and comparing. That Describe -> Strategy -> Backtest -> Refine loop is the whole game.

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Next steps

Next tutorial: buy the dip (MNQ)

One mean-reversion rule, no indicators required.

Iterate and refine

Phrasing patterns for adding filters and changing exits.