Trailing Stop Thru Wizard Not Working

[dewurster]

I always use the wizard to develop my strategies as much as possible before manually making changes. However, I have NEVER been able to get the SetTrailStop to work. It will never increment the trailing stop value. Instead, it will close out the position when a new condition is true. I have and example of the code below. What do I need to do to get the Trailing Stop to increment???

See posted chart for additional info.

Thanks for any assistance!!!

#region Using declarations
using System;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Drawing.Drawing2D;
using System.Xml.Serialization;
using NinjaTrader.Cbi;
using NinjaTrader.Data;
using NinjaTrader.Indicator;
using NinjaTrader.Gui.Chart;
using NinjaTrader.Strategy;
#endregion
// This namespace holds all strategies and is required. Do not change it.
namespace NinjaTrader.Strategy
{
/// <summary>
/// N/A
/// </summary>
[Description("N/A")]
public class ForumExampleHMA : Strategy
{
#region Variables
// Wizard generated variables
private int trailStop = 10; // Default setting for TrailStop
private int stopLoss = 15; // Default setting for StopLoss
private int jMAperiod = 15; // Default setting for JMAperiod
// User defined variables (add any user defined variables below)
#endregion
/// <summary>
/// This method is used to configure the strategy and is called once before any strategy method is called.
/// </summary>
protected override void Initialize()
{
SetStopLoss("LONG", CalculationMode.Ticks, StopLoss, false);
SetStopLoss("SHORT", CalculationMode.Ticks, StopLoss, false);
SetTrailStop("LONG", CalculationMode.Ticks, TrailStop, false);
SetTrailStop("SHORT", CalculationMode.Ticks, TrailStop, false);
CalculateOnBarClose = true;
}
/// <summary>
/// Called on each bar update event (incoming tick)
/// </summary>
protected override void OnBarUpdate()
{
// Condition set 1
if (Rising(JMA(10, 0)) == true
&& JMA(10, 0)[1] < JMA(10, 0)[2])
{
DrawDot("My dot" + CurrentBar, false, 0, Low[0] + -4 * TickSize, Color.Cyan);
EnterLong(DefaultQuantity, "LONG");
}
// Condition set 2
if (Falling(JMA(10, 0)) == true
&& JMA(10, 0)[1] > JMA(10, 0)[2])
{
DrawDot("My dot" + CurrentBar, false, 0, High[0] + 4 * TickSize, Color.DarkOrange);
EnterShort(DefaultQuantity, "SHORT");
}
}
#region Properties
[Description("")]
[GridCategory("Parameters")]
public int TrailStop
{
get { return trailStop; }
set { trailStop = Math.Max(0, value); }
}
[Description("")]
[GridCategory("Parameters")]
public int StopLoss
{
get { return stopLoss; }
set { stopLoss = Math.Max(1, value); }
}
[Description("Default for all charts")]
[GridCategory("Parameters")]
public int JMAperiod
{
get { return jMAperiod; }
set { jMAperiod = Math.Max(1, value); }
}
#endregion
}
}

#endregion

[NinjaTrader_AdamP]

dewurster,

SetStopLoss() overrides SetTrailStop(). I would suggest using the following reference sample to manage stops.

http://www.ninjatrader.com/support/forum/showthread.php?t=3222

[dewurster]

Yes, I can see that stop loss overrides a trail stop. However, trail stop does not seem to be working like I would think it does. For example if I trading oil (CL) and using a 15 tick trail stop, I go long at 107.14 and the trail stop hits at 107.05 for a loss. It doesn't make sence to me. In another example, I go short at 107.15 and the trailstop closes me out at 107.05 for a win. I don't undersand the trailstop's behaviour. Can you please explain with examples how the trailstop works? Thanks!

[NinjaTrader_AdamP]

dewurster,

Did this happen in backtesting or on a live connection trading to a simulated account?