Opening Range Breakout in SPY

A research-style evaluation of a popular intraday strategy.

Last updated: Feb 13, 2026 · Methods + backtest framework in progress

Research Question

Many traders claim the opening range breakout (ORB) is a repeatable edge. This project tests whether an ORB strategy in SPY produces excess risk-adjusted returns after accounting for volatility and transaction costs.

Method

  • Universe: SPY
  • Signal: Break above/below the first 15 minutes of the session
  • Risk metrics: Sharpe, max drawdown, win rate, average trade return
  • Robustness: Performance across volatility regimes + simple sensitivity checks
  • Costs: Transaction cost assumptions included in evaluation

Planned Outputs

  • Equity curve and drawdown curve
  • Return distribution (histogram)
  • Performance table (before vs after costs)
  • Regime comparison (low vs high volatility periods)

Status

Current: Building dataset + backtest framework in R.
Next: Generate visuals and write an executive summary.

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