Initial balance (IB)

The initial balance (IB) is the price range, high to low, established during the first hour of a trading session, the first two 30-minute brackets in Market Profile terms. The rest of the session is read against it: holding inside the IB or extending beyond it.

Senzoukria · Glossary · Updated September 2026

Definition

In Steidlmayer's framework the initial balance is the range built by the A and B brackets, the first hour after the open. The IB high (IBH) and IB low (IBL) are the boundaries. The idea is that the first hour is dominated by short-timeframe participants establishing a tentative range; what happens afterwards shows whether longer-timeframe participants accept or reject it.

  • The IB is defined on a session, so the session anchor matters: CME futures open at 17:00 Chicago time, while many index traders measure it from the RTH open.
  • The duration is a convention. Sixty minutes is standard, but some traders use other windows.
  • IB range = IBH − IBL. Its width relative to recent sessions is the first read of the day.

Day types read from the IB

  • Range held all session: a normal or balanced day; the IB edges act as the session's edges.
  • One-sided extension of moderate size: a normal-variation day; the other edge of the IB usually holds.
  • Narrow IB with large extension: a trend day; the IB is left behind early.
  • Extension in both directions: a neutral day; the close decides which side prevailed.

In Senzoukria

The 'Initial Balance' overlay ('Profiles & levels') draws the high and low of the bars in the first 'IB duration (min)' minutes of each session, 60 by default and adjustable from 5 to 240, from the first bar of the session to its end, or to the right edge for the current session. If a session has no bar inside the IB window, for example when history was loaded mid-session, no level is drawn rather than a partial one. Inside the 'Market Profile (TPO)' overlay, the 'Initial balance' toggle and 'IB brackets' setting (two by default) mark the IB on the letter profile, and the 'Letter colors' option can colour IB letters differently from the rest.

Common mistakes

  • Reading an IB from a chart loaded halfway through the first hour; the range is incomplete.
  • Confusing the IB with the opening range: the opening range is a shorter window, often 15 minutes, chosen by day traders rather than by Market Profile convention.
  • Assuming the IB is the same on every platform; anchor and duration are settings.

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Frequently asked questions

Is the initial balance the same as the opening range?
They are related but distinct. The initial balance is the Market Profile first-hour range. The opening range is the high and low of a shorter window, typically 5 to 30 minutes, used by index day traders. Senzoukria draws them with separate indicators, 'Initial Balance' and 'Opening Range'.
What does a wide initial balance mean?
A wide first hour shows that price travelled far before finding two-sided trade, often after news or a gap. Market Profile literature reads a wide IB as harder to extend beyond, because the range already covers a large part of what the session typically travels; treat that as a tendency described in the literature, not a rule, and read the extension itself when it happens.
How is the IB computed on a 24/7 crypto market?
There is no exchange open, so a session boundary has to be imposed. Senzoukria anchors futures sessions on the CME day (17:00 Chicago time) and splits crypto sessions at 00:00 UTC, so on Binance data the 'Initial Balance' overlay measures the first 'IB duration (min)' minutes after midnight UTC. The duration is adjustable; the anchor is not a setting of the overlay, so check that midnight UTC matches the way you read the market before using the level.

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