Heiken Ashi 8 indicator for strategy performance

[Damocoleman]

I've read a few posts discussing this but am a little confused with all the information.

My strategy runs off Heiken Ashi but I didnt realise the performance reports would be completely skewed!

If I added HA8 to the chart or my strategy, would I get more accurate results? With the analyser and performance reports?
Or is it just better to run these off normal candles?

[NinjaTrader_ChrisL]

Hi, thanks for posting. The original Heiken Ashi that comes with the platform does not backtest using the underlying data series tested. Use the Heiken Ashi indicator to get accurate backtest results. Here is a forum post on the subject with a link to the HA indicator:

https://ninjatrader.com/support/forum/forum/ninjatrader-8/strategy-development/1128094-the-curious-case-of-heiken-ashi-bars#post1128096

Kind regards,
-ChrisL

[Damocoleman]

Thanks, one question I have. I can see the trades on the charts and comparing the 2 HA (built v indicator), there are minor differences (a couple of ticks at most) in terms of entry and exit.
However, when I right click to do strategy performances, the stats coming back are severely different.

Would you happen to know why this is?

[NinjaTrader_ChrisL]

Hi Damocoleman, thanks for the follow-up.

If your strategy is running on the built-in HA bars, then the underlying data series is not being used to make the trades, the HA prices are being used. There is no built in HA indicator, the Indicator I linked in my last reply would be the one to use if you want to reference the HA prices e.g. HAObject.HAClose[0], but place the trades on the underlying data series using the standard Open[] High[] Low[] and Close[] arrays.

Kind regards,
-ChrisL

[Damocoleman]

Hi Chris,
Thanks for confirming.
So when running a strategy performance, is it basing the results from the Heiken Ashi candle positions?

Our strategy works best on Heiken Ashi and the trade parameters are wholly reliant on the trade performance results.
Is there any way I can have more accurate data on the trade performance without having to use traditional candles (because standard candles dont give the same signals)

[NinjaTrader_ChrisL]

Hi Damocoleman, thanks for your reply. The strategy will not use the underlying prices that the HA bar type is using. You will need to use the Heiken Ashi indicator to calculate entry signals, then use the primary chart series for order entry.

Kind regards,
-ChrisL

[burmaz]

Hi Damocoleman, thanks for your reply. The strategy will not use the underlying prices that the HA bar type is using. You will need to use the Heiken Ashi indicator to calculate entry signals, then use the primary chart series for order entry.

Kind regards,
-ChrisL

I also have a question about this.

So if I want to run a strategy with indicators like a SMA on let's say a Heiken Ashi on a 500 volume chart, do I run the strategy with with a standard 500 volume as the primary data set with the above HA indicator used in my strategy?

OR do I run the accurate Heiken Ashi bar type (NOT the included HA bars) I saw linked in a different post and run the strategy WITHOUT the HA indicator?

My indicators give different values when applied to a strategy run with the HA indicator applied to standard bars vs no indicator applied to the accurate HA bar types when backtesting.

Which is accurate?

[NinjaTrader_Emily]

Hello burmaz,

Thank you for your note.

You would likely see more accurate backtest results by running the strategy on the 500 volume chart with the Heiken Ashi indicator used in your strategy. The Heiken Ashi bar type has functionality that uses a "fake" open price. The OHLC values for the bars are altered to use the Heiken Ashi moving average values. This is also mentioned at the bottom of the following page:

https://ninjatrader.com/support/helpGuides/nt8/discrepancies_real-time_vs_bac.htm

I am not sure which Heiken Ashi indicator you are using from another post; this Heiken Ashi indicator is publicly available on our NinjaTrader Ecosystem website:

• https://ninjatraderecosystem.com/use...heiken-ashi-8/

Another option would be to run strategy tests in the Playback connection, where you could use the Heiken Ashi bars on the chart.

Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.

The NinjaTrader Ecosystem website is for educational and informational purposes only and should not be considered a solicitation to buy or sell a futures contract or make any other type of investment decision. The add-ons listed on this website are not to be considered a recommendation and it is the reader's responsibility to evaluate any product, service, or company. NinjaTrader Ecosystem LLC is not responsible for the accuracy or content of any product, service or company linked to on this website.

[burmaz]

Hello burmaz,

Thank you for your note.

You would likely see more accurate backtest results by running the strategy on the 500 volume chart with the Heiken Ashi indicator used in your strategy. The Heiken Ashi bar type has functionality that uses a "fake" open price. The OHLC values for the bars are altered to use the Heiken Ashi moving average values. This is also mentioned at the bottom of the following page:
https://ninjatrader.com/support/help...ime_vs_bac.htm

I am not sure which Heiken Ashi indicator you are using from another post; this Heiken Ashi indicator is publicly available on our NinjaTrader Ecosystem website:

• https://ninjatraderecosystem.com/use...heiken-ashi-8/

Another option would be to run strategy tests in the Playback connection, where you could use the Heiken Ashi bars on the chart.

Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.

The NinjaTrader Ecosystem website is for educational and informational purposes only and should not be considered a solicitation to buy or sell a futures contract or make any other type of investment decision. The add-ons listed on this website are not to be considered a recommendation and it is the reader's responsibility to evaluate any product, service, or company. NinjaTrader Ecosystem LLC is not responsible for the accuracy or content of any product, service or company linked to on this website.

Hello,

Yes I am referring to that indicator but my question is to either use that HA indicator you mentioned or the following bar type as I mentioned in my question:

https://ninjatraderecosystem.com/use...-barstype-nt8/

My strategy indicators give different values as outlined in my original question

"My indicators give different values when applied to a strategy run with the HA indicator applied to standard bars vs no indicator applied to the accurate HA bar types when backtesting.

Which is accurate?"

[NinjaTrader_Emily]

Hello burmaz,

Thank you for your reply.

You would likely see more accurate backtest results by running the strategy on the 500 volume chart with the Heiken Ashi indicator used in your strategy.

What I meant by this is you should not use the Heiken Ashi bar type; you should use the 500-volume bars with the Heiken Ashi indicator. I do not suggest using the Heiken Ashi bars type based on the explanation I provided and the information in the help guide. You could consider running a test in the Playback connection and compare those results to a backtest with the bars type vs. the indicator to see the difference between all of the options.

Thank you for using NinjaTrader.

[aaadetos]

Hi Emily,
Could you include sample code to illustrate how one would use the HA8 indicator in a strategy, say an SMA strategy?
Would one need to specify the bar type within such a strategy or not?
It would be best for such a strategy to run on whatever bar type one wishes to backtest in the strategy analyzer....
Thanks!

[NinjaTrader_Emily]

Hi Emily,
Could you include sample code to illustrate how one would use the HA8 indicator in a strategy, say an SMA strategy?
Would one need to specify the bar type within such a strategy or not?
It would be best for such a strategy to run on whatever bar type one wishes to backtest in the strategy analyzer....
Thanks!

The bar type would not necessarily need to be specified. You could add the Heiken Ashi indicator to a strategy's logic based on the default input series selected, such as whichever bars you'd like to use in the Strategy Analyzer. You would then use the HeikenAshi().HAOpen, HeikenAshi().HAHigh, HeikenAshi().HALow, and HeikenAshi().HAClose values rather than using OHLC values from the bars directly. In NinjaTrader 7, there were no Heiken Ashi bars so the Heiken Ashi indicator was used for NinjaTrader 7 as well. The following thread offers some useful information, including a snippet for an MA crossover based on Heiken Ashi values:

https://forum.ninjatrader.com/forum/ninjatrader-7/strategy-development-aa/93062-strategy-on-heiken-ashi-tick-bars

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

[aaadetos]

Perfect. Thanks Emily. Paul's response was what I was looking for. How do I plot the HA8 chart in a strategy?

[NinjaTrader_Emily]

Perfect. Thanks Emily. Paul's response was what I was looking for. How do I plot the HA8 chart in a strategy?

Glad to hear that is what you were looking for! An indicator's plots may be added in a strategy using AddChartIndicator():

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

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

[aaadetos]

No, not the indicator. But how to actually render the HeikenAshi price chart through the HA8 indicator as opposed to using the in-built HeikenAshi candles.