How to Set Up a Trade Plan

This provides a detailed dive in to setting up Trade Plans. The Trade Plan connects Signals to your broker accounts or paper/simulated accounts. Including, setting up the trade management and risk/reward exit orders.

Written By Zac White

Last updated 6 days ago

Create a New Trade Plan

  1. Click the New Trade Plan button, at top right. The ‘Create trade plan’ side panel will pop out.

    1. Fill in a Trade Plan Name, and provide an optional description.

  2. Order settings

    1. Select the Order unit type for calculating the exit order offset distance.

      1. Currency specifies the offset distance in dollars, euros, British pounds, etc. The currency is determined by the symbol being traded.

      2. Pips specifies the offset distance in forex pips.

      3. Ticks specifies the offset distance in the symbol’s tick value.

      4. Percent calculates the offset distance from the entry price.
        e.g. If a buy order for AAPL is entered at $200.00, and the ‘Take profit’ is set to 10, the take profit order will be placed at $220.00.

    2. Select the Entry order type.

    3. Select the Time in force (TIF) for the entry order. Available options are exchange supported types only. Custom broker TIF types are not currently supported.

    4. Select the Stop-loss order type.

      1. Stop Limit.

      2. Stop Market.

      3. Trailing. This option sets up a standard tick-by-tick trailing stop-loss.

        1. Value in … » Stop-loss value: The Stop-loss value specifies the offset distance and the trailing distance, per the Order unit type selected.
          e.g. If the Order unit is Points, and the Stop-loss value is set to 5, the stop-loss will be placed 5 point below the entry price (for a long trade), and it will trail behind the market by 5 points.

        2. Trailing trigger in … » Trigger value: The Trigger value determines when the stop-loss will begin trailing. The market must move this amount before the stop-loss will start trailing.
          e.g. If the Order unit is Points, and the Trigger value is set to 2.5, the stop-loss will start trailing after the market has moved 2.5 points in profit.

    5. Select the Take profit order type.

      1. Limit.

      2. Market If Touched (MIT). MIT orders are only supported on the NinjaTrader Desktop app. See NinjaTrader » Futures Order Types for more detailed information.

  3. Click the Create button when finished.

Connect Signals and Accounts

To complete a Trade Plan, a Signal and Account must be connected via the visual trade plan node screen. A Signal node and Account node must be connected to the Trade Plan.

  1. Click on a Trade Plan card to open the visual trade plan screen.

  2. Add a Signal. Click the left side ⊕︀ button.

    1. Select a Signal from the Add Signal menu.

    2. Editing a Signal.

      1. TradingView Signals. The Alert message placeholders can be overridden by clicking on the Signal node. A panel will pop out.

        1. TradingView Indicator Signals. The Action and Quantity must be specified in the Trade Plan side panel for TradingView indicator based signals, because indicator Alerts do not have placeholders.

        2. TradingView Strategy Signals. The Action and Quantity are typically left unchanged for TradingView strategy based signals, because the placeholders will transit the necessary information.

  3. Add an Account, click the right side ⊕︀ button.

    1. Select an Account from the Add Account menu.

Tip: Clicking on a node allows the settings to be edited at any time via the side panel.

Finished. ✔

Your system is now complete. Alerts from TradingView, TrendSpider, etc. are ready to be traded on the NinjaTrader platform, and executed by your NinjaTrader broker.