ATM Breakeven Strategy

[sastrades]

What I'm trying to do is...

Upon entering 2 contracts, I want to...

1) Set Stop @ 100 ticks, 2 contracts
2) Set Profit Target 1 @ 200 ticks, 1 contract
3) Set Profit Target 2 @ 400 ticks, 1 contract
4) Upon reaching Profit Target 1 @ 200 ticks, sell 1 Contract, move Stop on remaining 1 contract to -1 Tick

Here's what I've tried. What setting(s) need to be changed?

[NinjaTrader_Manfred]

Hello sastrades,

Thank you very much for your post.

Based on your screenshots and description, the only necessary change would be to switch the Stop Strategy from being on Target 1 to Target 2.

At the current time, NinjaTrader would attempt to change the Stop Loss at 200 ticks of profit. However, at this time the stop loss would also fill, resulting in the order never being modified.

By setting the same Stop Strategy on Target 2, the ATM strategy should then behave as intended.

Please don't hesitate to let me know, should you have any further questions!

[sastrades]

Based on your screenshots and description, the only necessary change would be to switch the Stop Strategy from being on Target 1 to Target 2.

At the current time, NinjaTrader would attempt to change the Stop Loss at 200 ticks of profit. However, at this time the stop loss would also fill, resulting in the order never being modified.

By setting the same Stop Strategy on Target 2, the ATM strategy should then behave as intended.

This doesn't seem to work.
Is the 'Custom Stop strategy' to replace Stop loss & Profit in Target 2? If yes, that is not occurring... I get 2x of Stops and Target orders set.

[NinjaTrader_Manfred]

Hello sastrades,

Thank you very much for your reply.

The Stop Strategy only affects the Stop Loss. The Profit Target would not be modified.

Taking the above strategy as an example, it would submit four orders. Two Stop Loss orders at 8 ticks and two Profit Target orders at 4 and 24 ticks.

At 4 ticks of profit, the Stop Loss of Target 2 would then be moved to breakeven -1. This only occurs once.

If you would like the Stop Loss to trail behind the market price, please use the Auto Trail feature instead.

You may also find a demonstration of how this behaves in our ATM Video Guide below:

https://support.ninjatrader.com/s/video-guides

Please don't hesitate to let me know, should you have any further questions!

[sastrades]

Taking the above strategy as an example, it would submit four orders. Two Stop Loss orders at 8 ticks and two Profit Target orders at 4 and 24 ticks.

At 4 ticks of profit, the Stop Loss of Target 2 would then be moved to breakeven -1. This only occurs once.

I discovered, this ATM improperly executes sporadically. Why is this?

At times, when Target 1 is reached, 1 contract is Sold; I will still have 4 total orders w/ 1 contract each...

Stop Loss @ 1
Stop Loss @ 8
Profit Target @ 4
Profit Target @ 8

[NinjaTrader_Manfred]

Hello sastrades,

Could you send us your log & trace files? Please also include the date/time this occurred or the Order ID of one of the affected orders, we can then take a closer look at what happened.

You can do this by going to the Control Center -> Help -> Email Support

Please select "Platform Technical Support" as the recipient and enter a brief note in the message referring to this post.

Thank you in advance, I look forward to your email!

[sastrades]

I may have figured it out. I believe this occurs only when I move my stop before Profit Target 1 is hit.
If so, I don't understand... Is this to say the ATM will not auto adjust?
This means I need to either adjust the ATM before executing a trade, or create and apply various ATM's?

[NinjaTrader_Manfred]

Hello sastrades,

Moving any of the orders should not affect the ATM strategy itself. It might delay an auto close or auto trail, as the ATM strategy would not lower the Stop Loss if a higher profit was already locked in.

E.g. if an Auto Trail is running, and the Stop Loss is moved 10 ticks closer to the market, the Auto Trail would pause until this distance is covered, before continuing the Auto Trail.

If this does not work as expected, please send me your log & trace files and I can best assist you further.

You can do this by going to the Control Center -> Help -> Email Support

Please select "Platform Technical Support" as the recipient and enter a brief note in the message referring to this post.

Thank you in advance, I look forward to your reply!

[sastrades]

I have another, similar inquiry, thought to use same post...

I want to create an ATM that...

1) sets initial TP @ 8-ticks
2) once the first TP is met, I want to set BE stop at 6-ticks

The only way I could see doing this is w/ setting an offset of 6 ticks. However, the trade keeps stopping out at the 6-ticks and doesn't make it to the 8-tick initial TP. What do I have wrong here?

[NinjaTrader_Manfred]

Hello sastrades,

Based on these screenshots, the ATM strategy would be set up correctly.

Is it possible that the Stop Loss being set to 2 ticks behind the market when the BE triggers is putting it too close to the current price?

This could cause it to be triggered if the market receives an order that is 2 ticks below the current market price.

Do you also experience this if the BE triggers at a profit trigger of e.g. 10 or 12?

Thank you in advance, I look forward to your reply!

[sastrades]

I actually did test it with a higher TP, and no, the TP was executed first. I understand slippage, etc., but it's still odd the stop would be triggered before the TP, regardless. Thanks.

[NinjaTrader_Manfred]

Hello sastrades,

Thank you very much for your reply.

As the Stop Loss is submitted as a market order, it would execute the moment the market touches this price. As a 2-tick drop is unfortunately not uncommon, I suspect this might have triggered the Stop Loss prematurely.

The Profit Target, on the other hand, is submitted as a limit order. This means it will only execute if it can fill at your selected price or better. This can lead to a market order executing, while a limit order at the same value does not.

I hope this explains what occurred, please don't hesitate to let me know, should you have any further questions!

[sastrades]

Hello sastrades,
Could you send us your log & trace files?

I attempted to do so, but receive an error.
Below is a link to a video capture of a trade with this occurring, and attached are relative screenshots of the ATM used.

Video capture: https://streamable.com/570503

[NinjaTrader_Manfred]

Hello sastrades,

Thank you very much for your reply.

Looking at the video, I don't see any errors or issues. The ATM strategy seems to behave as expected.

As the Profit Target that does not fill is a Limit Order, it would only fill at the selected price or further in your favor.

This means if the price is touched, but there is not enough quantity available to fill it, the order will not execute.

The Auto Breakeven, meanwhile, triggers as soon as this price is touched. This led to the Stop Loss being moved to Breakeven +1, where it then filled when the market dropped again.

Using an ATM strategy, it would not be possible to tie the auto trail to the execution of the first target directly. Only to a price point itself.

Please don't hesitate to let me know if you have any further questions about this!