Setting stop loss based on time

[Vypre]

Hi, I'm trying to test a simple strategy - after setting my profit target and calling EnterLong(), if my long position is still open after 30 thirty days (i.e. profit target still not achieved) then I would like to exit that position. Btw I have only 1 open long position at any given time (i.e. I set EntriesPerDirection = 1) and I'm using 5-min bars.

To achieve this, the code I have in mind is:

protected override void OnBarUpdate()
{
 	if (CrossAbove(SMA(10), SMA(20), 1))
		EnterLong(100, "myEntryOrder");
	
	/* Check if position is still open 30 days (i.e. 8640 5-min bars) later */
	if ((Position.MarketPosition != MarketPosition.Flat) && (BarsSinceEntryExecution() > 8640)) 
		ExitLong();
}

Would this work? I'm asking because I looked through the documentation for NinjaTrader 8 and saw that there might be other means available (e.g. using Order.Time?) so I'm just wondering if there might be a better way to do this...

Greatly appreciate any advice, thanks

[NinjaTrader_PaulH]

Hello Vypre,

Thanks for your post.

Yes, BarsSinceEntryExecution() will work and in the case of a named entry "myEntryOrder" you would want to specify that same name in the within the method, ie: BarsSinceEntryExecution("myEntryOrder")

Using 5 minute bars, 8640 bars would equate to 720 trading hours. If you instead wanted to exit after 30 calendar days then you could so something like:

if (your conditions to enter)
{
EnterLong("myEntryOrder");
myEntrydatetime = Time[0]; // assign the entry bar time to a previously created variable datetime called myEntrydatetime
}

if (Position.MarketPosition != MarketPosition.Flat && Time[0] >= myEntrydatetime.AddDays(30)) // add 30 calendar days to the entry date
{
ExitLong("myEntryOrder");
}

Please note that you can test any situation using the Sim101 account.