Active Position Profit/Loss

Order Setup

1) Account Selector

This control lets the user select any of the accounts available for trading.  Simply click on the down arrow on the right of the control to see the available accounts for trading.  Note that simulated/demo accounts will appear here as well.

For additional help with accounts or creating additional simulation accounts, visit the  NT8 Accounts Tab documentation.

2) Quantity Selector

The quantity selector is used to specify the position size for the trade.  The quantity value can be typed directly into the control, increased or decreased by clicking the up/down arrows on the right of the control, or by click the Quick Entry Pad icon to reveal predefined values for quick entry.

For additional information on using the quantity selector control, visit the the NT8 Quantity Selector documentation.

3) Time-in-Force Selector (TIF)

The time-in-force selector provides the user a way of specifying to the broker how long the order should remain active before being cancelled. 

Clicking the down arrow on the right of the control will display the available values.  Note that clicking on the GTD (Good 'til Date) value will provide a date selector for specification of a specific cancellation date.

Note that TIF instructions are managed by the broker and not the NinjaTrader application.

For additional information on the Time-in-Force control visit the  NT8 Time-in-Force Selector documentation.

Exit Strategy

1) Exit Bracket Toggle

Toggling this control to on or off shows or hides the controls for this section.  When in the "off" position, no exit bracket orders will be placed and any trades made will be filled by the broker without stop or target orders.

This control allows the user to specify a stop order, along with a number of target limit orders to be placed at the time the broker fills the entry order.  The user can specify Stop Only, or a stop order, with up to three limit orders.

A stop order will always be included when using the Exit Strategy controls

If the user creates a stop market or limit order for trade entry, Virtual Orders will be created for the exit bracket instead of actual orders. Once the entry order is filled, the Virtual Orders will be converted to active exit bracket orders.

Once the order has been placed, any Virtual Orders on the chart can be re-positioned to a different price by simply dragging the order to a new location.  Virtual Orders can also be deleted by clicking on the X icon on the right of the order line.

3) Risk-Reward Selector

This control allows the user to determine the risk at which the stop order will be placed.  A minimum of one-to-one is provided.  Risk is determined as a factor of the current ATR ( Average True Range) of the chart.  Once ATR has been calculated, price will be a factor of that value above or below entry price as the trade dictates. 

Please refer to the Exit Bracket Price Determination section in the  Bracket Order Execution article for a full explanation on how exit bracket order prices are calculated.

Note that the ATR calculations are configurable in the ChartDynamix Properties which can be found in the Control Center under the Tools > ChartDynamix > Properties menu option.

Once the orders have been place on the chart, they can be dragged up or down to increase/decrease risk as needed.

4) ATM Strategy Manager/Selector

The ATM (Advanced Trade Management) selector provides further options for managing exit strategies, including other risk specification types as well as semi-automated trade management.

Strategies can be created for a one-time use with a Custom strategy, or saved as a template for future repeated use.

To create a custom strategy, click on the down arrow on the right side of the control and choose the Custom option.  The following dialog appears:

The stop loss and profit order settings can be created with custom values and management settings.  To save the strategy for future use, click the Save as Template button.  This will persist the settings for future use and will appear in the dropdown list once expanded. 

Once the order is placed on the chart, the ATM Strategy will automatically be assigned.

Additionally, Virtual Orders will appear representing where the potential stop and profit orders will be placed.  These can be modified like the regular Exit Bracket orders by simply dragging the lines up order down.  The ATM Strategy will be updated accordingly to reflect those price changes.

Note that any changes to the order lines while an ATM Strategy is in effect will only be applicable to the current trade where those changes were made.  Other trades using the strategy will not be affected.

For additional information on Advanced Trade Management, visit the NT8 Advanced Trade Management documentation.

5) Add OCO Exit Button

The OCO button will add an exit bracket to any open position already on the chart.  If for example, the user entered into a position at market without a stop or limit order, clicking this button will create respective stop and limit orders as configured in the selection controls above.

An open position is required for this button to have any effect.

Putting it All Together

EXAMPLE 1

Stop & Target Setting	Stop Only
Risk-Reward Setting	1 :1R   (One-to-One)
Direction	Long
Result	When the entry order is placed, a single stop order will be placed at ONE unit of (ATR * ATR Factor) below the entry price.

EXAMPLE 2

Stop & Target Setting	2L/1S (Two limits, One stop)
Risk-Reward Setting	2 :1R   (Two-to-One)
Direction	Short
Result	When the entry order is placed, a single stop order will be placed at TWO units of (ATR * ATR Factor) above the entry price and two limit orders will be positioned below the entry price.  The first limit order will be placed at two units of (ATR * ATR Factor) below entry and the second limit order will be placed an additional unit below the first limit.

EXAMPLE 3

Quick Entry and Exit

Immediate Entry Buttons

The controls in this section provide a fast and efficient manner for entering into a trade immediately.  Clicking on any of the six green or red buttons will immediately enter you into an open position at the respective price indicated by the button type (Market, Bid, or Ask) and in the direction indicated by the button text. (Green buttons will create a long position, while red buttons will create a short position.)

When a button is clicked the current trade is entered along with any exit bracket configured in the Exit Strategy section (see above.)  If an Exit Strategy is not configured, then trade will consist of a single market order in the direction indicated by the clicked button, without any stop or profit exit orders.

Spread Information

In the center of the control grouping is the current spread information for the displayed chart and instrument.  This information is updated with each tick in price.  If the spread exceeds a certain threshold, then an alert will appear indicating the spread may be too high for trading.

The spread threshold alert value is configurable in the ChartDynamix Properties which can be found in the Control Center under the Tools > ChartDynamix > Properties menu option.

Cancel All & Close Buttons

At the bottom of the control grouping are the Cancel All and Close buttons that will cancel any pending orders or close any open positions, respectively.

SmartRisk Engine

1) SmartRisk Setup Toggle & Configuration

The on/off toggle activates or deactivates the SmartRisk Engine during order placement as well as shows or hides this section of the trade panel.  To the right of the toggle control are the configure and dropdown buttons.   The configure button will open the SmartRisk settings dialog where the trader can specify the desired risk template, risk per trade, equity use, and margin settings. The dropdown will allow the SmartRisk information to also be displayed when SmartRisk is deactivated.

1. Risk Template - The NinjaTrader Risk Template used for instrument margin calculations specified under Control Center > Tools > Risk.
   
2. Stop-Loss Risk Per Trade - The maximum risk percentage or specific dollar amount of risk used to calculate the position size.  The slider can be used to increase or decrease the risk value. Clicking on the % button will toggle between risk measured as a percentage of account size or as a currency amount.  The user can also type a value into the text field.
   
3. Equity Use Per Trade - The percentage of account equity used for risk calulation.  For example, 80% of 100,000 would calculate risk based on only 80,000.
   
4. Margin Use Per trade - The percentage of account equity (buying power) used to calculate margin usage.
   
5. Use Intraday Margin? - Optionally, specify intraday margin values to be used for risk calculations.  These values must be defined in the selected Risk Template.
   

2) ATR Zone Size Display & Tick/Price Toggle

This indicates the current zone size as calculated by current ATR or the planning tool (when activated).  Unless the planning tool is in use on the chart, the zone size value will be calculated as a factor of ATR.  However, if the planning tool is used instead, then the tool's zone size takes priority and will be displayed.

Clicking the [Unit] button will toggle the Zone Size value between Price and Ticks/Pips.

Note that the ATR calculations are configurable in the KatanaTrade Settings.  Control Center > Tools > KatanaTrade > Settings 

For additional information on the Trade Plan Tool, refer to the Planning Tool Placement Button topic below or the  Trading Using the SmartRisk Plan Tool article.

3) Risk Amount & Percent/Price Toggle

This value represents the percentage of risk or currency risk as configured in the SmartRisk Settings (see above.)  Clicking on the % button will toggle the risk amount value between percentage and currency display.

4) SmartRisk Position Size

The Smart Position Size value as calculated by the specified SmartRisk parameters and ATR (or Plan Tool) Zone Size.  This order quantity used in conjunction with a Stop-Loss order set at the specified Zone Size price will yield approximately the maximum risk as specified.  The user may use this as reference or use the panel controls to submit the specified orders.  IMPORTANT: The SmartRisk Position Size is NOT a guaranteed maximum risk.  It does not account for varying commission costs no slippage of stop-market orders in volatile market environments.

5) Planning Tool Placement Button

Places the Planning Tool on the chart which can then be adjusted by the trader to specify stop and target prices.

Up to three targets can be specified.

6) Trade Execution Button

Executes a trade at the prices indicated by the Planning Tool.  When the button is pressed, the zone size is determined by the distance from the entry price (dotted line on the tool) and the StopLoss price.  This will in turn, calculate the position size as configured by the SmartRisk settings.  Orders of the appropriate type will then be submitted to the broker using the calculated position size, Stop, Entry, and Target prices (if any).

Widgets

The widgets are buttons to provide quick information about the currently selected account, chart symbol, and other information.  Clicking each button will display the respective information.  The details provided are informative in nature only, and provide no effect on trades being placed.