Deep understanding of BarsSinceEntry/Exit

[sburtt]

Hi Support

I would like to set my initial stop loss for long entries at the lowest low that occurred during my last short trade. I think the way to go is using BarsSinceEntry() and BarsSinceExit(), please correct me if wrong. Would the code below be the correct solution to my problem:

private double stop = 0;

stop = MIN(Low,BarsSinceEntry(Short))[BarsSinceExit(Short)];

[NinjaTrader_ChelseaB]

Hello sburtt,

I think you want:
MIN(Low, BarsSinceEntry(short)-BarsSinceExit(short))[BarsSinceExit(short)]

This would use a period of number of bars the order was in a position for, with an offset of the exit bar.

This is assuming that the short variable is a string that is the entry orders entry signal.
I do not recommend using short as a variable name as short is used as an identifier (object type) for a type of number (a 16-bit integer from -32,768 to 32,767).

[sburtt]

Hello sburtt,

I think you want:
MIN(Low, BarsSinceEntry(short)-BarsSinceExit(short))[BarsSinceExit(short)]

This would use a period of number of bars the order was in a position for, with an offset of the exit bar.

This is assuming that the short variable is a string that is the entry orders entry signal.
I do not recommend using short as a variable name as short is used as an identifier (object type) for a type of number (a 16-bit integer from -32,768 to 32,767).

yes that should work. but at this point I have a few things I still don't fully understand and I would appreciate your advise:

1. I will change the variable name, but for simplicity lets use "short" in this example. When I am in a short position I can exit in multiple ways, each exit type has a different name (e.i. short exit 1, short exit 2). When referring to the BarsSinceExit() method and the string signalName it calls, should this signalName be the fromEntrySignal ("short")used in the stoploss I use or the signalName used for the stop loss ("short stop 1")?

2. How can I check that I had at least 1 short prior using this code to avoid having an error message?

Thanks for your assistance

[NinjaTrader_ChelseaB]

Hello sburtt,

1. In the BarsSinceExit you will need to use the signalName (fromEntrySignal) used on the entry order.
2. You can check that there is at least 1 short trade with the following:
   if (Performance.ShortTrades.Count > 0)

[sburtt]

Hello sburtt,

1. In the BarsSinceExit you will need to use the signalName (fromEntrySignal) used on the entry order.
2. You can check that there is at least 1 short trade with the following:
   if (Performance.ShortTrades.Count > 0)

very helpful. thanks

[sburtt]

Hello sburtt,

1. In the BarsSinceExit you will need to use the signalName (fromEntrySignal) used on the entry order.
2. You can check that there is at least 1 short trade with the following:
   if (Performance.ShortTrades.Count > 0)

Chelsea, I've a last thing I want to ask you as I am not 100% sure.

assuming my primary time frame is 60 minutes (BarsArray[0]) and my secondary time frame is 1 minute (BarsArray[1]). Am I right in thinking that this code below will return the the entry bar of the last Short position taken counting on 60 min bars?

BarsSinceEntry(0,"Short",0)

and what exactly is the "entriesAgo" (Number of entries ago. Pass in 0 for the number of bars since the last entry)? what I mean is, if I enter 1 rather than 0 what outcome should I expect?

Thanks, thats all

[NinjaTrader_ChelseaB]

Hi sburtt,

Your usage of BarsSinceEntry is correct for the entry time and info of an order placed on the primary (60 minute) time frame, with an entry signalName of "Short", and the most recent exit.

The entriesAgo is the offset of how many orders back you are looking. For example if you've made 5 orders and you are wanting to know how many bars were between the previous entry and the exit of the entry before it you would find the barsAgo value of the previous entry using the "Short" signalName with BarsSinceEntry(0, "Short", 1). Then you would find the barsAgo value of the exit of the entry before it with BarsSinceExit(0, "Short", 2). With this information you can do simple subtraction to know how many bars passed between the exit of 2 orders ago and the entry of the previous order.
barsBetweenLastOrder = BarsSinceExit(0, "Short", 2) - BarsSinceEntry(0, "Short", 1);

Btw, here is a link to BarsSinceEntry() in the help guide in case you need it.
http://www.ninjatrader.com/support/h...ssinceexit.htm