Switching Positions to ATM from IB Workstation

[sgordet]

If I have an open position in IB that I want to manage from NT (proft target/stop loss through an ATM strategy) so that I can add another position to the instrument and manage both separately, is there a way that I can do that or would both positions have to have been opened in NT for management through concurrent ATM strategies?

[NinjaTrader_RyanM]

Hello sgordet,

Unfortunately you cannot apply ATM strategies to open positions. They must be predefined and the position opened in NinjaTrader only.

[sgordet]

If I open both in NT, is there any way that I can label them so I can track the results separately?

[NinjaTrader_RyanM]

You can view performance results based on the ATM strategy template used. This is through the account performance screen (http://www.ninjatrader.com/support/helpGuides/nt7/account_performance_tab.htm), advanced options. Is this what you're looking for?

[sgordet]

1. So all I would need to do is give each ATM strategy a specific name, e.g., Crude A, Crude B, etc., and I could pull up the separate information. Correct?
2. When I trade, for example, ES in Ninja through my IB account. I see my entry, stoploss and target in the IB Workstation. If I were on daily charts long on ES and then entered a day later a separate short position in NT, what would I be seeing in the IB workstation?
3. Most of what I would be using the multiple strategies for are daily as opposed to intraday positions. For one position, if I close NT, I still have my stoploss and profit order in place on IB. What happens to these concurrent positions if I close NT?

[NinjaTrader_RyanM]

1. Yes, you can view performance results by atm strategy so if they are named uniquely there will be results available specific to the template used.

2. You can't hold short and long positions at the same time in one account. Your short position is a sell order that closes your long position. Your stop loss and target order may remain working or not depending on ATMStrategySelectionMode (http://www.ninjatrader.com/support/helpGuides/nt7/atm_strategy_selection_mode.htm) settings.

3. Please see here for order location based on broker. (http://www.ninjatrader-support.com/vb/showthread.php?p=27076#post27076) Your orders will be held at IB, with the OCO logic held natively on their servers.

[sgordet]

I read the link that you sent me to on strategy selection, but I'm afraid that I'm still not getting it.
If I open a long ES position on a day chart which I plan to hold for a month and three days later on a different day chart I open a short position which I plan to hold for three days, Each position will have a stop and target.
What's going to happen at the broker? I assume NT will close the long position and open the short position and then re-enable the long position if the short position closes. But how will it adjust if the long position is stopped out while the short position is increasing in value and the only position at the broker?

[NinjaTrader_RyanM]

You can't have long and short positions at the same time. You submit orders and your account position is based on these orders.

If you're long 1 and submit a sell 1 order, your position is flat.

If you're short 1 and submit a buy 1 order your position is flat.

The stop and target orders associated with these positions can remain working if you have the ATMStrategy selection mode set to "DisplayOnly" and you make these orders on two different doms. If you have it on either of the other two selection mode settings, then the working stop and target orders are cancelled as soon as your position is flat.

[sgordet]

So, if I'm long in one DOM, then go short in another, I go flat. Then if my long position has its stop hit, does NT submit a new short order with the earlier ATM settings so my 2nd position is active?

[NinjaTrader_RyanM]

Yes, if you leave working stop and target orders going, they will be filled if price reaches / crosses the levels.

A working stop loss order from a long position is a sell order.

A sell order will make a flat position -> short, or a long position -> flat.

[sgordet]

But most importantly, will NT automatically re-institute the short position that should now be open once the stop is hit on the long order?

[NinjaTrader_RyanM]

There's no re-institute of a short position. These are the only factors:


Your current account position and quantity.
An order direction and quantity.


When the order is filled, it will place you in a position based on those factors only.

[sgordet]

Then I'm really not getting this:
I was long with a stop and target. I went short with a stop/target ATM in a separate DOM--each DOM had "DisplaySelectedAtmStrategyOnly" chosen. NT closed my long position when I went short. My virtual stop on the long was hit.
Doesn't NT have to now re-open my short with its ATM stop/target strategies to keep everything in sync?

[NinjaTrader_RyanM]

No, stop loss orders won't have an ATM applied to them unless you're using Reverse At Stop through the advanced options. Reverse at stop effectively changes the order quantity of the stop loss orders, so things can get further out of sync.

What are your goals? If you want to balance short and long term trading, multiple accounts may be the best approach for this.

[sgordet]

The manual says that using the "Display Selected ATM Strategy only" mode is "designed for traders who want to run concurrent ATM strategies (trades) in the same market."
But is seems from your responses that this only works if you have separate accounts for each of the concurrent positions.
I use several different trading methods on the same instrument, and I was hoping that I could use NT to let me manage them out of the same account, but to do that it's going to have to automatically re-open a position and its ATM strategies when a position going in the opposite direction has hit its stop.

[NinjaTrader_RyanM]

Yes, it sounds like with your usage multiple accounts will work better for you.

[sgordet]

Could you explain to me what it means to be able to "trade multiple strategies in the same market."
Do all strategies have to be trading in the same direction at the same time? That doesn't sound like multiple strategies to me.

[NinjaTrader_RyanM]

This is only a a visual setting, to separate activity specific to one DOM only. You'll notice two positions are indicated. A virtual position for the DOM and an actual account position. Unfortunately there is no way to hold simultaneous long and short positions at the same time in one account.

[sgordet]

In terms of multiple accounts: even with a multi-broker license, only 1 account can be linked to NT at a time from IB. Is this also true for multiple accounts at Amp Futures or is the connection technology different? Amp allows you to have separate accounts to trade the same instrument using different strategies. If the situation is the same at Amp, are there any brokers where I can hook multiple accounts to the same NT session?

[NinjaTrader_RyanM]

You can typically only connect to one login at a time / per provider. However, IB allows you to connect multiple times, by specifying a unique Client ID. This client ID is specified in IBs account connections as well as the TWS API settings.

There's also the possibility of having one login that provides access to several different accounts. Talk to your broker about setting this up for your account.

[sgordet]

I have 2 user accounts at IB, each has 2 logons (username and password--one for my wife and one for me, we also have 2 separate NT licenses).
1. If I open both accounts on my computer and set up a different named connection in NT for each, and use the distinct username and password for each person and each account, can I be connected to both accounts at the same time or is the unique ClientID you mentioned something different than user/password that I need to employ?
2. Can my wife, from her computer, be connected to the same IB accounts at the same time that I am with our separate NT licenses (so far we've been careful to log on at different times).
3. I used to have several "subaccounts" at Amp Futures for trading several different ES strategies. I would like to do that again. What specifically do I need to ask them to do so I can use NT with all of the accounts open in NT at the same time?

[NinjaTrader_RyanM]

1. Yes, you can be connected to both logins from one NinjaTrader. Keep the client ID at 0 for one of the connections, and type 1 for the other.

2. Unfortunately we're not aware of IBs account access policies. They may allow simultaneous access at an account level or not at all. You will have to check with them.

3. Let them know you would like access to multiple accounts through one login. The login is the username and password used.