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Submitting Orders

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There are several methods to submit orders through a chart using Chart Trader.

 

It is highly recommended that you review the section regarding Position Strategy Parameters for a complete understanding of order submission and subsequent actions that you can have  NinjaTrader automate.

 

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tog_minusHow to submit an order

Submitting Orders

To submit an order using Chart Trader:

 

1.Set the "Qty" field

 

2.Set the strategy option
a)<None> : Orders are submitted independent of a strategy
b)<Custom> : Stop loss and profit target orders are created "on the fly" using the selected strategy parameters
c)Active Strategy X: Apply this order to this selected strategy, the selected strategy's stops and targets are automatically updated*
d)User Defined Strategy Template: Stops and targets are submitted from a predefined user template

 

3. Clicking the "..." button will display the strategy parameters window

 

You can then enter an order with any of the methods described in the sections below.

 

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*A more thorough explanation of these concepts are found under the Position Strategy section.

tog_minusUnderstanding order menus

Order Menus

Order menus will appear via the right mouse click context menu as per the image below when you have Chart Trader enabled. The menus are filled with pre-defined order types and prices based on the location of your mouse cursor. Click on the desired order menu to submit an order.

 

Chart_Trader_5

 

Stop Limit Order

When submitting a stop limit order, a numeric field (image above) will appear that represents the number of ticks away you wish the limit price of the stop limit order to be placed at. Either by using your mouse scroll wheel or clicking on the up/down arrows in the numeric field, set the number of ticks and press the "checkmark" button to complete the order submission. Pressing the "X" button will cancel the order submission operation. For example, if you intend to have an order with a stop price of 1000 and a limit price of 1001 (4 ticks spread for the S&P E-mini contract), you would set the numeric field value to 4. Following the same example and  submitting a sell stop limit, setting the numeric field value to 4 would result in a stop price of 1000 and a limit price of 999.

 

Chart_Trader_6

 

The numeric field also supports negative values. By selecting a negative value, you automatically submit a simulated stop order. This allows you to place orders that trigger at a break out price but try to fill you at a better price. You can also enable simulated stop order by putting the Chart Trader control into simulated order mode. You can enable this via right mouse clicking in Chart Trader and selecting the menu item Simulated Order or via the shortcut key CTRL+A.

tog_minusUnderstanding the Quick Buttons

Quick Buttons

You can quickly submit orders via the Chart Trader control's Quick Buttons.

 

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Button Actions

 

Buy Market - Submits buy order at market

 

Sell Market - Submits sell order at market

 

Buy Ask - Submits buy limit order at ask price

 

Sell Ask - Submits sell limit order at ask price

 

Buy Bid - Submits buy limit order at bid price

 

Sell Bid - Submits sell limit order at bid price

tog_minusHow to scale in or out of an active strategy

Scaling In or Out of an Active Strategy

When you have an active strategy selected in the strategy control list, orders submitted scale into or out of the strategy. Once filled or partially filled, existing stop loss and profit target orders are modified to reflect the new position strategy size. You can preset a default scale in or out quantity via the Scale quantity property accessible via the Chart Trader properties window. As an example, your initial strategy may call for opening a position of four contracts but you want subsequent scale orders to be only one contract. If the Chart Trader's Scale quantity property is set to a value of one, when an active strategy is selected in the strategy control list, the Qty (Quantity) field will be set to a value of one automatically.

tog_minusUnderstanding "One Cancels Other" (OCO) orders

OCO Orders (One Cancels Other)

Stop loss and profit target orders (submitted automatically via an ATM strategy) are always sent as OCO; however, you can submit entry or exit orders as OCO orders as well. Why? The market may be trading in a channel and you wish to sell at resistance or buy at support, whichever comes first by placing two limit orders at either end of the channel.

 

To place OCO orders, right mouse click in your entry window and select the menu item OCO Order or use the shortcut key CTRL+Z.

 

All orders placed while OCO is enabled will be part of the same OCO group. Once any order of this group is either filled or cancelled, all other orders that belong to this group will be cancelled. If you want each OCO order to create it's own set of stop loss and profit target brackets, ensure that the ATM Strategy drop down menu is set to either <Custom> or a strategy template name before you submit each OCO order.

 

NOTE: It is important to reset the OCO by disabling and re-enabling it after the completion of submitting an OCO order group; otherwise, you may run into problems where orders are rejected due to usage of duplicate OCO id values.

 

Example:

Below are steps for submitting a sell limit and a buy limit order via OCO.

 

1.Enable OCO
2.Place buy limit
3.If initiating two orders to enter a new strategy then re-select the strategy in the strategy selection list
4.Place sell limit
5.Disable OCO (this is critical that you disable OCO before submitting another OCO group)
tog_minusUnderstanding simulated stop orders

Simulated Stop Orders (Simulated Order)

To submit a simulated stop order (entry and exit NOT stop loss; simulated stop loss orders are enabled via a stop strategy), you must enable simulated order mode via the right mouse click menu and selecting the Simulated Order menu item, or use the shortcut key CTRL+A. All stop orders placed while this indicator is lit will be submitted as a simulated stop order.

 

One of the powerful features of simulated stop orders is that you can submit a "negative limit stop limit" order. This means that you can place an order where the limit price is better than the stop price. As an example, you may want to buy on strength indicated by a move up to a particular price. Once that occurs, you want to enter at a better price using a limit order several ticks below (if you are buying) the stop price. Any stop limit order submitted with a negative limit offset is automatically a simulated order and will be held on your PC until the stop is triggered or cancelled.