Options TD Ameritrade

[DBlev]

Hi,
I open the Option Chain window and select an instrument, but the Option Chain does not populate. Am I doing something wrong?



Thanks,
Dave

[NinjaTrader_Zachary]

Hello Dave,

Thank you for your post.

Please answer each of the following questions;

Do any other instruments work for you or is it just AMD that does not load? If you have not tried, please test this. (Test with common instruments like AAPL, MSFT, etc.)

Do you get any type of an error message as either a pop-up or in the 'log' tab of the Control Center?

Do you receive real-time data in the SuperDOM or on a chart for this instrument?

Have you confirmed that options are enabled on your TD Ameritrade account?

I look forward to your reply.

[DBlev]

Hi Zachary,
Thanks so much for getting back to me.

I have tried AAPL & MSFT. Those don't work either.

No error message in a pop-up or in the log.

Yes, the charts and the SuperDOM display real-time data.

Yes, options are enabled on my TD Ameritrade account.

Thanks!
Dave

[NinjaTrader_Zachary]

Hello Dave,

Thank you for your reply.

There is either something in your account or in your platform that is preventing the options from loading. We will need to figure out which of the two it is by doing some additional troubleshooting. First and foremost, as a test, I want you to try forcing the exchange selection by going to your Option Chain window and typing 'AMD NASDAQ' (without the quotation marks). I've included a demonstration of this below;

https://www.screencast.com/t/Umm5UK5td

Do you notice any difference when entering the symbol that way? If not, how about if you reset your instruments.

To reset your instruments, please take the steps below.

1. First, disconnect from any data providers by navigating to the Control Center > Connections menu, and left-click on “disconnect” that appears to the right when hovering your mouse over any active connection
2. Next, reset your instruments by navigating to the Control Center > Tools > Database Management
3. In the Database Management window, under the “Update instruments” section, ensure that “General properties”, "Futures expiries" and “Symbol mappings” options are checked and then click Update
4. Lastly, restart NinjaTrader for the changes to occur

I look forward to your response.

[DBlev]

OK, I tried those things. I'm still not seeing anything. I will get the loading... but then it stops trying.

The futures options load fine.

[NinjaTrader_Zachary]

Hello David,

Thank you for your reply.

Are you connected to multiple connections? If so, please disconnect from all connections aside from TD Ameritrade. After you do this, please try to load a stock option again (AAPL, AMD, MSFT, etc.). Do they load when you are only connected to TD Ameritrade?

I look forward to your response.

[DBlev]

That seemed to work. I'm having trouble with my strategy testing now though, no data. I'll keep playing with it. I think we're on the right track.

[NinjaTrader_Zachary]

Hello David,

Thank you for confirming that for me.

This was immensely helpful. Here's what's happening. In NinjaTrader, Options are a single asset class regardless of whether they are futures or stocks. When using multiple connections in NinjaTrader, the options data will be pulled from whichever connection you established first. If you are not enabled for options on stocks from that provider, stock options data will not fall over to the secondary connection and load.

With that being said, it is possible to set a 'Preferred Connection' for each instrument type in NinjaTrader 8. Thus, if you are subscribed to the data for stock options from TD Ameritrade, you may set your TD Ameritrade connection as the 'Preferred Connection' for options data. To do this;

1. Disconnect from all active connection
2. Go to Control Center > Tools
3. Select 'Options' from the Tools menu
4. Select 'Market data'
5. Expand the 'Preferred connections — historical' section
6. Change the 'Options' setting from it's current value to TD Ameritrade
7. Expand the 'Preferred connections — real-time' section
8. Change the 'Options' setting from it's current value to TD Ameritrade
9. Select Apply and OK

More information about setting 'Preferred Connections' and utilizing multiple connections may be found at the following links;

Preferred Connections

Multiple Connections

Please note that setting TD Ameritrade as the preferred connection for Options will prevent futures options from the other connection from loading. You would need to disconnect from TD Ameritrade before being able to receive futures option data. Unfortunately, since one provider supports only futures options and TD Ameritrade only support stock options, you would not be able to receive data for both when connected to both connections.

[DBlev]

OK, all set here Zachary. Thank you so much for your help on this!

Dave