Opening range failed break — reclaim checklist for liquid US names

[Fairman]

A failed break of the opening range is one of the cleanest educational structures in liquid US equities and ETFs — and one of the easiest to overtrade. The pattern is simple to sketch and expensive to improvise. I only treat it as actionable when the checklist below is complete before the first share.

Tape reading constrains behavior — aggressive prints that hold, VWAP acceptance, spread gates, index agreement. If it cannot be audited on Sunday, it was a guess with better vocabulary.

## Rails that stay on the sheet
- Failed break is a pattern with rails.
- Chase through the break is usually the failure mode.
- Invalidation written in cents or an auditable structure break before entry.

## Concrete checklist
1. Define OR in writing before 09:31 ET (or at the exact minute your rules freeze it — commonly first 5 or 15 minutes). No moving the box because a later print is inconvenient.
2. Liquidity gate: liquid US names/ETFs only. Illiquid traps teach the wrong microstructure lesson.
3. Spread vs live max at decision time. Failed breaks that occur while the book is wide are often observe-only.
4. Break rule: what constitutes a break (trade through, close through, consecutive prints) — pick one definition and keep it for the quarter.
5. Fail rule: return back inside the OR and acceptance back inside on your trigger timeframe.
6. Reclaim rule (if you trade the reclaim side): reclaim of OR high/low with invalidation in cents, not "below VWAP somewhere."
7. Index context for single names: SPY/QQQ agreement for full size.
8. One attempt. Second attempt requires new structure, not hope.

## Worked example — Failed OR break chase
Opening range high breaks, chase long, immediate fail back. Reclaim checklist: failed break, return inside, hold, spread OK, index OK — then fade/reclaim plan with invalidation beyond extreme.

I keep examples in cents and clock time so Sunday review can tag the behavior — not rewrite it as a mood.

## Failure modes
- Ignoring the rails above on **Opening range failed break — reclaim checklist for liquid US names** and substituting confidence.
- Adding size after adverse selection because the story still feels right.
- Paying open microstructure tax that midday memory never modeled.

## When to skip
Skipping is a first-class decision — even when the chart still looks persuasive:
- Checklist incomplete at 09:20 ET — observe or one pre-written A+ only.
- Live spread outside max for that symbol and session bucket.
- Index violently disagrees with a single-name thesis and no reduced-size RS plan is on the sheet.
- Platform, hotkeys, locate, or flatten path unverified after reconnect/update.
- Daily loss, PDT slot, or prop buffer tripwire already touched.
- News/FOMC/CPI window where the size-cut card says stand down.

## Closing
For **Opening range failed break — reclaim checklist for liquid US names**, keep operable boredom: written rails, measured cents, index context when relevant, and a skip that needs no apology. Process quality beats ticket volume.