Displaying Renko Blocks on Chart

[smegey]

Hi,

I had a look through the charting forum to find more details about renko charts. Ninjatrader does support them. However, when I opened a chart UI and click 'Bar Style', there is no Renko option. There is only Box, candlestick, OHLC, line etc. Where can i find the renko chart?

I am new to Ninjatrader and I apologise if someone else has already asked this. I did have a look through the forum and couldnt find any post with the answer. Stupid question it may seem but I really am struggling to find it!

Thank you so much in advance.

Cheers

[NinjaTrader_Bertrand]

Welcome to NT smegey - the Renko bars are not a BarStyle, but rather a bars type, so you would select them in the Period field in your DataSeries dialog box (Ctrl + F to bring this up).

[smegey]

Thank you very much.

[smegey]

Welcome to NT smegey - the Renko bars are not a BarStyle, but rather a bars type, so you would select them in the Period field in your DataSeries dialog box (Ctrl + F to bring this up).

I noticed when i now select Renko, my data doesnt display at all, even if i select a long period of time(1yr+). I have OHLC data for some forex crosses. Is that not good enough to display Renko on a daily perspective? Do i require different data for this? If so does Kinetick support this?

Thanks again!

[NinjaTrader_Bertrand]

For Renko chart you would need tick data access, which feed / broker are you using here in connection with NinjaTrader?

Kinetick with a real time data subscription would offer this, yes - you can find out more at www.kinetick.com

[smegey]

I am using Kinetick EOD free. I dont mind paying for something worthwhile but obviously would prefer free while i test/backtest my model and then pay for something like Kinetick once simulating live and then trading live. I understand this may not be possible to get tick data free... any suggestions?

Again, thanks very much for your prompt response.

Cheers

[NinjaTrader_Bertrand]

You're welcome, Kinetick free EOD would unfortunately not help here, since you need tick data access. Do you have any broker account yet? You might also consider getting a demo for example from a broker that provides a tick data feed with backfill to check this out :

http://www.ninjatrader.com/support/h...rical_data.htm (first section gives you an overview over all connection options)

[smegey]

Great, will have a look through that and report how i go.

Thank you!

[smegey]

Well i signed up to kinetick for a month to download all the data i need and then use it at a later date when i feel i am ready. So far so good.

I have since managed to build a renko chart, however, it doesnt seem to look anything like the chart i use on stockcharts.com which uses a 15 minute period - It seems Ninjatrader can only use a one minute period? Is it possible to have a renko chart use a 15 minute period?

I am trying to make the chart with the same parametres as this chart (see attached picture chart.png) but cant seem to do it.

The chart in NT is currently seen like this (see ntchart.png). Both look very different and when i apply custom indicators to these charts, both give me very different results. The indicates within NT seem to display a lot of noise (fluctuations between extremities with oscillators). Im sure these items are customizable, its just a matter of me working this out. Or is the NT software restricted and cannot show the chart just how i like it (chart.png).

Thanks very much

[billr]

Hello smegey,

I have used (and still use) Renko extensively. The time setting used by Stockcharts.com makes for very clean charts and are compelling especially when considering them for trading systems. However, this non-traditional approach to renko is not available in NT. (although as you have apparently discovered, using 1-minute data may accomplish something similar). BUT BE CAREFUL, the Stockcharts type of time-based renko is VERY DANGEROUS to use. It artificially smoothes data (charts) by effectively looking into the future and then retroactively drawing the chart. If you try to trade using the time-based renko filter, you will get lagging signals like you have never thought possible. Trading it live can and will defy all your backtesting results and kill your account. ( If you trade a time-frame much larger than your time filter, this becomes less of a problem, but I would still recommend against it)

If you can't tell, I speak from experience. When I first started trading, I used eSignal for a few months and didn't fully appreciate what I was exposing myself to when I used a time-filtered renko setting similar to Stockcharts.

That said, try not to get discouraged by the fact that your charts will not be as noise-free as you had hoped for. Renko is still a very powerful way to chart. You just have to be mindful of the instrument you are trading and set your renko accordingly. Also, please be careful when backtesting. For the most part, NT backtesting is not valid with the standard NT renko charts. However, you can download some 3rd party versions of renko that will allow you to do some backtesting with renko (check Big Mikes Trading forum). If you want to use the NT Renko, I would suggest that you use the Market Replay feature instead of the Strategy Analyzer. Insanely tedious, but much more accurate results.

Good luck!

[NinjaTrader_Bertrand]

smegey, I will need to give the StockCharts one a run and see where the differences are - we would not build Renko charts on time interval or with minute based data underlying, but true tick data.

http://www.ninjatrader.com/support/helpGuides/nt7/bar_types.htm

[smegey]

Thank you both for your response. I will go over this when i can. Thanks Billr for your response from your experience with Renko and Stockcharts. Appreciate that.

Bertrand, happy to assist with stockcharts if required.

Cheers

[NinjaTrader_Bertrand]

smegey, I could not really compare as I think you would need a subscription to it for intraday, correct? It looks like they offer to build the chart with time data as basis, which is something we would not. Perhaps you would need to run larger Renko charts on tick based data in NT to approximate the charts?

[smegey]

smegey, I could not really compare as I think you would need a subscription to it for intraday, correct? It looks like they offer to build the chart with time data as basis, which is something we would not. Perhaps you would need to run larger Renko charts on tick based data in NT to approximate the charts?

Bertrand, happy to provide you with my account details if you like so you can see for yourself. Yes, intraday requires an account, which I have. Will be closing the account in a month or so time, so happy to show you so you can see for yourself.

[NinjaTrader_Bertrand]

Ok, great - thanks for offering - please contact me directly then at support at ninjatrader dot com Attn Bertrand.