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Initial balance and opening range indicator

The first hour, drawn and extended.

Salti IB & Opening Range marks the high and low of the opening range and the initial balance: the first 15 and 60 minutes of the session by default. Add midpoints, shade either range, project extensions above and below, and keep the levels on the chart or park them off to the side.

Get the study → What to pair it with
Free for public use Exclusively on Hyperprop Chart overlay Futures & perps

Educational tool, not financial advice. Trading futures and crypto perpetuals carries substantial risk of loss. The ranges record where the session traded early; they don't predict where it goes next. Full risk disclosures ↓

Salti IB & Opening Range on an MES 5-minute chart in Hyperprop: the initial balance high and low as solid blue lines and the opening range high and low as dashed orange lines, extended past the last candle with price labels
Salti IB & Opening Range on MES 5m in Hyperprop, Oct 29, with Salti Swings, MGI and ATR Levels. Price broke under the ORL and then the IBL. Chart times are Chicago. Initial balance Opening range
How it works

The session's first auction, marked off.

The open is where the day's first real auction happens. The opening range and the initial balance record how far it went before the day settled in.

The opening range is the high and low of the first few minutes after the open: 15 by default, from 1 to 60 in the settings. The initial balance is the same idea over a longer window, the first hour by default, from 30 to 120 minutes. The term comes from Market Profile, where the first hour is the first two 30-minute periods.

On futures, the session opens at 09:30 New York, the cash open; on crypto, at 00:00 UTC. You can also start from the Globex open at 18:00 New York. Before today's open, yesterday's ranges stay on the chart.

While a range is still building, its labels say (forming) and the lines move with price. Once its window has passed, the levels are fixed for the rest of the session and never repaint.

Extensions project the range from its own edges: a 1x extension sits one full range above the high and below the low. Pick the multiples you want from a short list.

ORH / ORLHigh / low of the first 15 minutes
IBH / IBLHigh / low of the first 60 minutes
Midpoint(High + Low) / 2
+kxHigh + k × R
−kxLow − k × R

A bar counts toward a range when it opens inside the window, so the chart's timeframe can't be longer than the window. A 15-minute opening range needs a 15-minute chart or shorter; if it can't be drawn, a note on the chart says so.

Get the study

On the chart in four steps.

Built for 1- to 15-minute charts. Every setting is a dropdown, so there's nothing to type.

  1. Find it in the community

    It's free. In the Hyperprop web terminal, open the community indicators and search for Salti IB & Opening Range.

  2. Add it as an overlay

    It draws on the price chart. Your indicators sync to your other devices, including mobile.

  3. Pick your ranges

    Open its settings from the chart legend. Set Opening range length to the window you trade, 5 or 15 minutes for most. Leave Initial balance length at 60 unless you use a 30-minute IB.

  4. Test it in replay

    Set Past sessions to draw to 10, press Replay, and see how price behaved around each session's ranges before you trade them.

Reading the levels

What each line is, and how it's often read.

Colors and line styles shown are the defaults: the IB solid, the OR dashed, extensions dotted.

ORH / ORL

The opening range. The first move off the open. Breakouts from it are a common setup; many traders wait for a candle to close outside it rather than trade the first touch.

IBH / IBL

The initial balance. The first hour's range. In Market Profile terms, a day that stays inside it is rotating, and a break that holds outside it is a range extension, often read as the start of a trend day.

+kx / −kx

Extensions. Measured moves from the range's edges. A 1x extension of the IB doubles the first hour's range; it's a common target on days that keep going. Off by default.

Mid

Midpoints. The middle of each range. Often read as the range's balance line: holding above it leans toward the high, below it toward the low. Off by default.

(forming)

A range still building. The lines follow price until the window ends. Treat them as provisional until the label drops the word.

Pairs well with

A level is a number. Context makes it a trade.

The ranges show where the day started. These free Salti studies show where it's likely to find value, what structure is doing, and what a stop costs.

Auction context Salti MGI

Check where the IB sits against yesterday's value area. An IB built inside prior value points to a rotational day. A break of the IB that also leaves value behind is the kind of move that tends to keep going.

Read the key session levels guide → Confirmation Salti Swings

Let structure confirm the break. A higher low that holds above a broken IBH says the break was accepted; a lower high back under it says it failed.

Read the Swings guide → Risk Salti ATR Levels

A stop on the other side of the opening range costs one full range. Compare that with the ATR stop and the size that fits your max risk before you take an opening range breakout.

Read the ATR Levels guide → Targets Salti Camarilla Pivots

An IB extension that lands near H4 or L4, or a floor pivot, is a target two different methods agree on. One sitting in empty space has only the range behind it.

Read the Camarilla pivots guide →
Settings

Every setting, and when to touch it.

The same placement options as Salti MGI and the pivot studies, so they can sit side by side.

When the session opens, and how long each range runs.

Session opens at sets the start of both ranges. Auto uses the 09:30 New York cash open on futures and 00:00 UTC on crypto. Pick Globex open to build them from 18:00 New York instead.

Session opens atAuto09:30 New York on futures, 00:00 UTC on crypto. Or RTH open, Globex open, UTC midnight.
Opening range length15 minutesOr 1, 5, 10, 30, 60.
Initial balance length60 minutesOr 30, 90, 120.
Past sessions to draw (0 = current only)0Or 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 20. Earlier sessions are drawn without labels.
Free for public use

Free to use. Support is optional.

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Affiliate disclosure: I'm an affiliate partner of Traders Launch. If you sign up with code SALTI I may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. The study stays free either way.

Risk disclosures

Read this before you trade.

Not financial advice

This page and the Salti IB & Opening Range study are educational tools. Nothing here is investment, financial, tax or legal advice, or a recommendation to buy or sell any futures contract, perpetual swap or other instrument. Make your own decisions and consult a licensed professional where appropriate.

Risk of loss

Futures and crypto perpetuals involve substantial risk of loss and are not suitable for everyone. Leverage magnifies losses as well as gains, and you can lose more than your initial margin or account balance. Crypto markets trade around the clock, can move sharply, and are exposed to exchange, liquidity and funding-rate risk. Only trade with money you can afford to lose.

Study limitations

The opening range and initial balance describe where the session traded early; they don't predict where it goes next, and price can break, reclaim or ignore any of them. Ranges are built from the chart's own bars, so a bar that opens inside the window counts in full, and the chart's timeframe has to fit inside the window. A forming range moves until its window ends. A level that held on past sessions in replay may not hold the next time.

Hypothetical examples

The chart on this page shows one example session. Any results from testing, replay or simulated accounts are hypothetical, are made with the benefit of hindsight, and do not account for the emotional pressure of live trading. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

Affiliate disclosure

I'm an affiliate partner of Traders Launch. If you sign up with code SALTI I may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. That relationship doesn't change the study, which is free for public use. Prop firm evaluations are paid challenges on simulated accounts; fees are generally non-refundable and most participants do not pass. Check a firm's current rules yourself before buying.

Prop firm and platform rules

If you trade an evaluation or funded account, that firm's rules on drawdown, daily loss, position size and prohibited strategies apply and are your responsibility. Hyperprop is a third-party platform, and its features, data and scripting rules can change without notice. Check that the study behaves as you expect before relying on it.