Not Enough Margin

[kezyclaire]

Hi,

Why am I getting Not Enough Margin when submitting a sell/buy for NQ? I have 5,000 on the sim account and I was only sending 4 contracts. Once I submit a OCO(Sell/Buy Limit and Stop) order after getting field, I get this error Not enough Margin.

I have attached the trace and log.

Thanks.

[NinjaTrader_Zachary]

Hello kezyclaire,

Thank you for your inquiry.

I have removed your log and trace files, please do not post that information on the forum.

The 'Not Enough Margin' message is occurring on your automated strategy when it is attempting to place a 5th contract, which means that your sim account likely did not have the additional 1000 dollars of margin at that time to submit a 5th contract.. The reason you are getting rejected on your ATM Strategy with only 4 contracts is different. It is because you are using the 'Price' parameter type on your ATM Strategy in an incorrect fashion and it is placing your Stop Loss and Profit Targets at prices that are not possible. The Pirce parameter type expects that you put in a literal price value for your Stop Loss and Profit Target. For example, if I enter a value of 20 with Price selected, the order will be placed at a price of 20 on the chart. This is obviously not a valid price on NQ, as NQ's current activity is nearing 15600.

Please let us now if we may assist you any further.

[kezyclaire]

Hi Zach,

I also tried in chart trader and not using my strategy but it is getting the same error. Please check the log, the first order was using chart trader with oco order.

Please let me know if you need the log and trace. I will do the simulation using the chart trader only and not using my strategy. Or you can just try it yourself in Chart Trader with ATM Strategy that has Stop Loss and Profit.

Thanks

[NinjaTrader_Zachary]

Hello kezyclaire,

Thank you for your response.

As I mentioned in my previous reply, the problem you are having with the ATM Strategy is because you are not using the 'Price' parameter type correctly. It is trying to place orders at values that are not possible when trading NQ. You need to change the prices that you are attempting to use or use a different parameter type.

The Pirce parameter type expects that you put in an absolute price value for your Stop Loss and Profit Target. For example, if I enter a value of 20 with Price selected in my ATM Strategy, the order will be placed at a literal price of 20 on the chart. This is obviously not a valid price on NQ, as NQ's current in the 15000's. You need to adjust your ATM Strategy.

Please let us now if we may assist you any further.

[kezyclaire]

Hi,

In the ATM Strategy, those are offset profit target and stop loss. It is accepted when sending 1 contract at a time. The price I am sending are all valid even using my own strategy. Have you tried to simulate it using sim?

[NinjaTrader_Zachary]

Hello keyzclaire,

Thank you for you response.

Yes, I have. The Price parameter type does not work the way that I think you might be expecting it to. It is expecting an absolute value. If I wanted my profit target at 15660 using the Price parameter type, I would need to enter a value of 15660. That is why the orders are being rejected. You are entering the value away from your entry, rather than the absolute price. You need to adjust the strategy to account for that.

Please let us know if we may assist you any further.

[kezyclaire]

Hi Zach,

ATM Strategy is now working. I pattern my strategy to the Limit Price and Stop Price when sending OCO but I am still getting Not Enough Margin. I am not seeing any extra order in the orders tab using my strategy I even debug if there is extra order or maybe I just not seeing it. Can you take a look what is wrong with it? Let me know if you need my logs. Thanks

[NinjaTrader_Zachary]

Hello kezyclaire,

Thank you for your response.

From what I had previously seen in your log and trace files, it appeared that the strategy was indeed attempting to place a 5th order and the account did not have the requisite amount of margin to cover the additional order. If you'd like us to take a look at the automated strategy after you've made the changes, feel free to send us your log and trace files via email by going to Help > Email Support. Feel free to include ATTN Zachary in the title or body with a brief description of the issue.

I look forward to hearing from you.

[kezyclaire]

Hi Zach,

Yes, during that time account balance was 5,700 so 5th order with 1 contract should still be valid. It got filled with no error. Then I submitted a changeOrder on stop loss with 5 quantity, successful. But when I submitted ChangeOrder on Profit Target with 5 quantity, that’s when I got the not enough margin error. ChangeOrder on 2nd, 3rd, 4th were successful.

I have sent an email to the support email for the log.

Thanks.

[NinjaTrader_Zachary]

Hello kezyclaire,

Thank you for your response.

I've received your email and will review in the information. I will follow up there.

Thank you for your patience.