Time as Indicator

[Bdanels]

Is anyone aware of any way to use time only as an indicator? By this, I mean, to have a signal for action (i.e. enter buy or sell order at the bid or ask) strictly based on the time of day. For example, I want to submit a buy at the bid order at the market open at 9:30:00 exactly

[NinjaTrader_Emily]

Hello Bdanels,

Thank you for your post.

You could use time as a signal to buy or sell in a similar way to the following reference sample:

https://ninjatrader.com/support/helpGuides/nt8/using_a_time_filter_to_limit_t.htm

The SampleTimeFilter strategy creates a time filter to only trade during certain times of the day, although you could implement this idea to enter a buy or sell order at the market open if you'd like:

/* Checks to see if the time is during the busier hours (format is HHMMSS or HMMSS). Only allow trading if current time is during a busy period.
The timezone used here is (GMT-05:00) EST. */
if ((ToTime(Time[0]) >= 93000 && ToTime(Time[0]) < 120000) || (ToTime(Time[0]) >= 140000 && ToTime(Time[0]) < 154500))
{
// Entry Signal: If current close greater than previous close, enter long
if (Close[0] > Close[1])
EnterLong();
}

If you are wanting to use this in an indicator rather than a strategy, you could still use the same time filters as conditions, then for the signal you could have the indicator draw an object on your chart. If you want to place orders from an indicator, you would need to utilize the Account class to subscribe to account related events and place orders:

https://ninjatrader.com/support/helpGuides/nt8/account_class.htm

Please let us know if we may be of further assistance.