AUDUSD and the opening range break: does it still work after costs?
Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2026 9:53 pm
AUDUSD ORB looks tidy until you price the round trip properly.
I box the London open range, wait for a clean break, then try a retest entry rather than market-chasing the first print through the edge. Stops are tight by design; that means costs matter more than on a wider gold scalp. Commodity mood and China-risk colour can help the directional bias, but they do not pay the spread for you when the retest never comes.
Concrete rule I use: no AUDUSD ORB unless the Asia range is mid-width — too tight and you get fake breaks, too wide and London often just digests. If the break happens into a known data minute, I stand aside even if the pattern is pretty. I also skip when overnight AUD already ran hard against the dollar; forcing ORB then has been a recurring scratch factory in my log.
Targets stay modest — a fraction of the morning range — so the cost ratio has to be honest.
I box the London open range, wait for a clean break, then try a retest entry rather than market-chasing the first print through the edge. Stops are tight by design; that means costs matter more than on a wider gold scalp. Commodity mood and China-risk colour can help the directional bias, but they do not pay the spread for you when the retest never comes.
Concrete rule I use: no AUDUSD ORB unless the Asia range is mid-width — too tight and you get fake breaks, too wide and London often just digests. If the break happens into a known data minute, I stand aside even if the pattern is pretty. I also skip when overnight AUD already ran hard against the dollar; forcing ORB then has been a recurring scratch factory in my log.
Targets stay modest — a fraction of the morning range — so the cost ratio has to be honest.
- Anyone still banking AUDUSD ORB after realistic costs?
- Do you require a retest, or do you take the first break?