close great than or less than average position price (-)

[SteveReiza]

i'm dialing in an exit for my trade. and i have check if position long and a bool and a close greater than or equal to average position price -18 ticks as conditions. does that make sense to have greater than to a negative number..because i'm talking about having a greater negative number? or, is it less than with a negative number..because we're talking about close being lower than the -18?

[NinjaTrader_BrandonH]

Hello SteveReiza,

Thanks for your post.

The "average position price -18 ticks" would refer to the average position price offset by -18 ticks. This would be the price 18 ticks below the average position price.

If you want to create a condition that checks if the close price is greater than the price 18 ticks below the average entry price then that would be correct.

If you want to create a condition that checks if the close price is less than the price 18 ticks below the average position price, then you should use Less for the comparison instead of Greater.

I suggest adding a print to your script (outside the condition) that prints out the average position price offset by -18 ticks to see exactly what that value is evaluating to when running the script.

Below is a link to a forum post that demonstrates how to use prints to understand behavior.

https://ninjatrader.com/support/forum/forum/ninjatrader-7/strategy-development-aa/99209-date-conditions-not-working?p=791121#post791121

Let us know if we may assist further.

[SteveReiza]

thanks for the reply. my confusion is if its the same for long and short positions. if its average position price -18 ticks. the -18 is higher then the long trade with a -18 if its a short trade. in that case, if i want to say if the close is a higher price than where the -18 is then i would use greater than? or, because its more negative and its more less than 0 i use less than?

[NinjaTrader_BrandonH]

Hello SteveReiza,

Thanks for your notes.

The average position price offset by -18 ticks would mean the price 18 ticks below the average entry price. This would be the same price regardless of if you entered a long or short position.

For example, say the average position price is 100 and the TickSize of the instrument is .25. The average position price offset by -18 ticks would be 95.5 (.25 * 18 = 4.5 and 100 - 4.5 is 95.5).

If you were in a long trade, this would mean the market moved against you by 18 ticks. If you were in a short trade, this would mean the market moved 18 ticks in your favor.

To detect if the market moved more than 18 ticks in your favor when in a long position, you could check if the Close price is greater than Average Position Price + 18 ticks.

To detect if the market moved more than 18 ticks in your favor when in a short position, you could check if the Close price is less than Average Position Price - 18 ticks.

Please let us know if we may assist further.

[SteveReiza]

thanks for the reply. okay sweet. appreciate the clarification.