Strategy Builder

October 3rd, 2009, 01:35 AM

HI Guys

Gary, your method seems really good. This question is for everybody, but I know that Gary and Big Mike trade CL, so please guys give me your views. I know that most people feel that an automated trading system is not as good as discretionary.

However, what about automated entries and then discretionary managing using preset stops and targets, etc..?

The reason I ask is because it seems like the entry has the most to do with timing which is totally technical and puts the odds on your side while taking emotion out.

if so, what do you think about the strategy builder in ninjatrader for non experienced programmers? I saw a video on the ninjatrader website. It was good, however, they seemed to talk very little about a very important part concerning the int inputs in the beginning-----I dont know the inputs are referring to. any help on this would be great.

thanks
Spencer

October 3rd, 2009, 01:48 AM

Hello

I saw the strategy builder on the ninja trader website and it was very good. HOWEVER, it was not really thorough. I know that the int (referring to integer I think) is an input of some sort----and I am not sure if I need to put anything for the input or not.

basically I have 3 or 4 indicators and want to just say when this indicator does this and that and when price does this and that go long, etc.. I tried this without putting anything in the int, but it did not work once I finished it.

any help would be great.

thanks
Spencer

October 3rd, 2009, 06:22 AM

I moved your 2nd post from the Gary's thread, that was off-topic.

Your question is not clear, but I think the "Int" stuff refers to an input variable of the strategy. So during backtest or optimization, you can play with this A, for defining a stop, the lenght of an SMA, or whatever you want.

But once again, I'm not sure that was your question...

October 3rd, 2009, 06:28 AM

As for automated entries, yes that is tool that is widely discussed and used. Personally, I use the TradingStudies toolbar add-on that lets me flag if I want to take longs or shorts, and then the strategy can get me in a position quicker/faster/easier, and I will manage it from there.

It is highly unlikely you will be able to do this in Strategy Builder. I've never used it, but this is an advanced topic so you need to know NinjaScript inside and out.

Mike

October 3rd, 2009, 09:11 AM

Spinnybobo,

I think the other hard part is programming your ability to see when the signal will occur, but you will pass due to another factor such as it being range bound or hitting a major s/r area on your entry or any of your larger charts. This saves me from a number of trades which do not work, but technically meet my criteria on the entry chart. I do like the idea of automated entries and then managing the exits, but just not sure how to include everything I am looking at in an automated strategy.

Gary

October 3rd, 2009, 09:34 AM

I'm not familiar with the Trading Studies add-on, but can tell you a little about the Strategy Wizard.

1] Look at the examples that come with Ninja then download more examples from the forum. Open them in the Wizard and see how they work.

2] You'll quickly find the Wizard is limited in it's capability, but you can crack open the code and play around if you like. Once you "unlock" the code you cannot edit it in the Wizard, only by hand coding.

3] It's a good idea to start a new strategy within the Wizard to get the basic code in place. Then you can "unlock" the code for some serious tweaking. Using other people's examples you'll soon get the feel for each section of code and what it does.

Personally, I like to use it to test ideas. I might, for example, want to see what happens if I plot the occurrence of down bars vs up bars. So the code would be saying, "If 18 of the last 34 bars are down, draw a red dot above the current bar". This is done using a CountIF statement. Turns out that was a worthless idea, but that idea can be eliminated pretty quickly by testing it out. Play around a little and you'll get the hang of it.

Note that most examples available in the forum cannot be opened in the Wizard. But after you download one and then try to edit it you'll find out soon enough if it is Wizard-friendly or "hard coded".

October 3rd, 2009, 11:53 AM

thanks for input guys. I also look at bigger charts and major S/R. I am pretty good at knowing the context of when to go long and short, I just need some major help with the timing. So, I thought lets say the market just hit some major support and the 21R bars on CL are now turning blue and there is lots of room to go up

I would be looking to go long, but dont want my emotions to pull the trigger. then I turn my strategy on---lets say only between 8am and maybe for me 12pm chicago time since that is where I live---and I think Gary and Mike are also CST.

I literally find it very difficult to even imagine always having a 12tick stop on CL, but timing and only timing makes this possible.

So, I thought I could use the strategy builder to combine a few of my indicators---but it seems like from what I am hearing, you really need to know how to program, etc..

So, I think even if I had just arrows that would help a lot for confirmation to take the trade or stay out. Mike, you are good with CL timing, could you help with something like this? I will post this in the private forum for you

thanks
Spencer

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