Open Auction Types: Balanced, Test-Drive, and Imbalanced Opens
The opening auction shows exactly how aggressive traders are when the session starts. If you can read the open correctly, you’ll know within minutes whether today is likely to trend, chop, fake out, or explode.
The Three Open Auction Types
Every open falls into one of these categories:
- Balanced open – two-sided chop, no urgency
- Test-drive open – sharp push to test one side quickly
- Imbalanced open – strong one-directional conviction
If you don’t understand auction context, review initiative vs responsive activity before going deeper here.
1. Balanced Open (Open Auction In Range)
A balanced open happens when price opens **inside the prior day's value** and both sides participate evenly.
- Back-and-forth rotation
- No strong initiative activity
- Market is discovering value, not attacking
This open often leads to:
- Choppy sessions
- Slow development of direction
- Late-day breaks rather than morning trends
2. Test-Drive Open (Open Auction Test Drive)
This open hits fast. Price opens → immediately tests one extreme → and if rejected → drives the opposite direction decisively.
Characteristics:
- Sharp move immediately after the open
- Test of an overnight extreme, value edge, or obvious level
- Strong aggressive order flow after the test
This is where traders get trapped the most. They chase the test instead of waiting for confirmation of the drive.
3. Imbalanced Open (Open Drive)
An imbalanced open is pure aggression. One side takes control immediately — no test, no negotiation, no hesitation.
- Price opens outside prior value
- Immediate breakout behavior
- Large volume hitting one side
- Minimal rotation
This open often leads to:
- Trend day behavior
- Single-direction movement
- Multiple TPO clusters forming in the trend’s direction
How Overnight Sessions Affect the Open
Overnight action sets the stage:
- Big Globex trends → test-drive risk is high
- Low-volume drifting → balanced open likely
- Overnight extremes far from RTH value → imbalanced open risk
If you don’t understand session transitions, revisit session continuity.
Reading the First 5 Minutes
The first 5 minutes tell you almost everything:
| Behavior | Likely Open Type |
|---|---|
| Chop around the open print | Balanced |
| Immediate push to test a level | Test-drive |
| Immediate directional drive with size | Imbalanced |
How to Trade Each Open Type
Balanced Open
- Wait for range definition
- Fade extremes until the market shows initiative
Test-Drive Open
- Don’t chase the initial test
- Trade the confirmed drive with order flow support
Imbalanced Open
- Look for continuation setups
- Don’t fade until clear responsive control shows up
Putting It Together
The open auction defines the session’s tone. If you can identify whether the day starts balanced, test-driven, or imbalanced, you’ll immediately know what mindset to adopt — patient, reactive, or aggressive. Most traders blow their accounts in the first 30 minutes because they misread the open. Don’t be one of them.