Strategy Wizard question

[NickF]

Hi,

I'm trying to set up a strategy using the wizard where:
If the opening price of this bar is greater than the closing price of the last bar I enter a long position. the position has a 4 tick stop loss and 8 tick profit target.

I am able to set up the strategy, but I can't run a backtest because it comes up blank. also when I was able to run the strategy, i could see trades entered that didn't equateto my strategy.

I've attached a word file with a chart when this condition happens.
I would also like to set an audio alert for when this happens.

I've gone through the manual, but I'm still not able to make it work.

Thank you.

[NinjaTrader_JoshP]

NickF,

The Word Doc you attached did not contain any screenshots of the Strategy Wizard.

[NickF]

I wasn't able to post because of the file size. can I email it to you?

thanks.

[NinjaTrader_JoshP]

support [at] ninjatrader [dot] com

Please include a link to this thread with Attn: Josh in the subject. Thank you.

[NickF]

Sent. Thank you

[NinjaTrader_JoshP]

NickF,

The strategy looks accurate. Are you sure you have data loaded into NinjaTrader?

[NickF]

No Josh, I'm not sure. I haven't downloaded any data into the ninja software. I'm using it with Zefire and when I try looking for the Chart of a past date, say July 20th, the data comes up. therefore I assumed that the historical data is already loaded. Also, when I try to backtest, I only entered it for the past 2 trading days and while I can see that the event happened on my charts, nothing shows on the backtest. Is this where I'm going wrong? Thanks

[NinjaTrader_JoshP]

NickF,

Perhaps you need more data. Please try loading a longer time ranged chart.

[NickF]

Sounds good. I'll try some different ranges tonight and let you know how it goes. Thanks.

[NickF]

Josh,

I did some testing on the strategy today and while I realize what I was doing wrong when I wasn't able to run a backtest (solving one issue) I'm still not able to make the strategy perform the trades as I intended. I've sent an email to support attention Josh (give the file size is to big to post) so you can take a look. The last page there's a chart of the results so you can get an idea where I'm going wrong. Please let me know if you can help.
Regards,
NickF.

[NinjaTrader_JoshP]

Nick,

Would not be able to make any recommendations based on the picture. What you should do is go to the Chart tab and visually track where your strategy is trading and see what it is doing in relation to your trading conditions. Remember your strategy will only hold one position at a time. If you are already in a trade, it will not make subsequent trades till that first trade is closed.

[NinjaTrader_JoshP]

Nick,

Remember that there is a Condition Bar and a Trade Bar. When your condition bar is evaluated to true, that signifies you want to trade, but since that bar is already closed you can't trade on the condition bar so your order goes in at the open of the next bar. That is your Trade bar.

[NickF]

There we go. Now i see that part of the problem is what you just told me. As you can see on the last trade of the Chart (which is a screen shot from the chart tab as you suggested), it was executed one bar too late. So if I want to place a trade on the condition bar, as soon as it opens, it can't be done? How about using the Nina Script, still can't be done?

[NinjaTrader_JoshP]

Not in backtesting. Consider the sequence of events. Your condition bar gives you a snapshot evaluation of your conditions at the moment of the bar closing. Trying to trade at the open of this bar is essentially cheating. You are now saying to go back in time and place a trade at a historical point and roll it forward.

[NickF]

I see. But that's how I'd trade in real life (although there are other conditions in place). Once a bar opens higher than the last bar, I buy immediately. I don't have to wait until the bar closes to execute my order. So that's what I've been trying to do. I don't see how this can be viewed as cheating by the software, since the only data it needs is the close of the last bar, and the open of this (most recent) bar to complete the condition.
Now, on a going forward basis, can the trade be executed at the open of the bar, if I see it opened higher than the last bar?

Thanks Josh,