Overview

A Simulated Stop order (SS) is a conditional locally PC simulated order type that allows you to execute either a market or a limit order once the market touches your order price and satisfies a user defined volume trigger. SS orders are very powerful and can be misused if not fully understood. Please take the time to review this section in it's entirety prior to using this order type.

NOTE: Simulated Stop (SS) orders are not supported in the NinjaTrader Direct Edition.

Benefits

There are several benefits to using SS orders:

Hide your order from the market place
Delay the triggering of a stop market or stop limit order (prevent having your position stopped out prematurely due to a quick drop and pop into your stop loss price level)
Execute a limit order at an improved price from the stop price trigger (for example, you wish to trigger a buy limit order at 999 once the market price reaches 1000)

Risks

There are associated risks with using SS orders:

SS orders are held and simulated locally on your PC and is therefore subject to issues such as loss of internet connection and computer crashes
SS orders require stable and reliable market data since they are simulated; if market data stops flowing the S order stops simulating
SS market order types can experience slippage during high volume periods and/or highly volatile markets
Since SS orders are held on your PC and submitted live when they trigger, it is possible that the order is rejected should you not have available margin to place this order. PLEASE BE AWARE OF YOUR ACCOUNT MARGIN LIMITATIONS.

Volume Trigger

A SS order requires a volume trigger value to be set. This is the number of shares/contracts that represents a floor that once penetrated will trigger the SS order. SS orders trigger once the market price is trading at the SS order price and the volume trigger condition is breached. Volume triggers for stop loss orders are set as part of a stop strategy, volume triggers for all other stop orders are set via properties dialog window of an order entry window.

SS orders are set to Initialized state (see Appendix A) and color coded yellow in any of the NinjaTrader order display windows. Once triggered, either a limit order or a market order is submitted.

The following are some examples of SS orders in action:

Buy Stop Market Example

Order Type - Buy Stop Market

Stop Price - 1000

Volume Trigger - 500

This example will trigger once the market trades at a price of 1000 and the ask volume is less than 500 contracts. Once triggered, a market order is submitted. If this was a sell order, the bid volume would be monitored.

Buy Stop Limit Example

Order Type - Buy Stop Limit

Stop Price - 1000

Limit Price - 1001

Volume Trigger - 500000

This example will trigger once the market trades at a price of 1000 and the ask volume is less than 500000 contracts. The volume trigger is set to a ridiculous high number because the intent is for the order to trigger right away. Once triggered, a limit order is submitted to buy at a price of 1001 or better. If this was a sell order, the bid volume would be monitored.

Sell Stop with Improved Limit Price Example

Order Type - Sell Stop Limit

Stop Price - 999

Limit Price - 1000

Volume Trigger - 600

This example will trigger once the market trades at a price of 999 and the bid volume is less than 600 contracts. The interesting thing about this set up is that what we are doing is triggering a limit order at a higher price in order to try and get a better fill. This order strategy is not possible with standard order types and can only be done using NinjaTrader SS technology. Once triggered, a limit order is submitted to sell at a price of 1000 or better. If this was a buy order, the ask volume would be monitored.

Avoid SS Orders

During high volume and trade rate periods such as the first five minutes of trading
During major economic events that can substantially affect volatility
Markets that consistently trade with a large spread between the ask and bid price
Markets that trade where the ask or bid price can consistently change by more than one tick