Troubleshooting
In this section we'll highlight and explain the most common issues you may encounter that require troubleshooting; including formatting issues and nuances when using ATM strategies.
Last updated
In this section we'll highlight and explain the most common issues you may encounter that require troubleshooting; including formatting issues and nuances when using ATM strategies.
Last updated
Alert lag or latency can occur on both sides of CrossTrade for different reasons. From TradingView: Alert delays can occasionally occur, especially around the top of the hour and major news announcements where their server load increases. CrossTrade marks the received time exactly, but the time it takes to arrive at our front door is out of our control. TradingView official response: "Unfortunately, currently signals can be sent with a delay (several seconds) at the beginning of trading sessions and at the beginning/end of an hour, because the load on the servers increases. We are already working on this issue and although there is no ETA yet. Please accept our apologies for the inconvenience." To NinjaTrader: Execution latency can occasionally occur and is influenced by a number of factors like your internet connection and PC specs. There are a number of ways you can optimize NT8 that we outline here and strongly suggest all users consider implementing for the best experience.
Did you forget the semi colon on the end? Did you add a semi colon in between accounts when it should be a comma? Are you missing a required field for your command type? These are the common reasons you'll see a formatting issue. Let's break them down one by one...
key=my-secret-key;
command=PLACE;
account=sim101;
instrument=ES 03-25;
action=BUY;
qty=1;
order_type=MARKET;
tif=DAY;
key=my-secret-key;
command=PLACE;
account=sim101,sim102,sim103;
instrument=ES 06-25;
action=BUY;qty=1;
order_type=MARKET;
tif=DAY;
Examples:
(NT Sim) account=sim101;
(NT Demo) account=demo123456789;
NinjaTrader's available commands require (R) certain fields be present for the command to be implemented.
For example a PLACE command requires the Account, Instrument, Action, Qty, Order Type and TIF (time in force) to be present.
key=my-secret-key; - Required by CrossTrade
command=PLACE; - Required by NinjaTrader
account=sim101; - Required by NinjaTrader
instrument=ES 06-25; - Required by NinjaTrader
action=BUY; - Required By NinjaTrader
qty=1; - Required by NinjaTrader
order_type=MARKET; - Required by NinjaTrader
tif=DAY; - Required by NinjaTrader
If you submit an alert with an expired contract, you'll encounter this error message. Be sure to update your alerts to the front month contract after rollover to ensure you're submitting orders on an active contract. Otherwise, NinjaTrader will return the following error:
This error message is usually an indication that you have supplied a partial contract amount; which NinjaTrader does not support. In the example below you can see 3.664901 is the qty for this command, which NT8 rejects. A round number of contracts or shares is require.
CrossTrade can not 'see' your setting on NinjaTrader; which means you'll need to ensure that the settings between the two platforms match. For example, you may be wondering why your ATM is not opening a trade. Chances are it's because the quantities do not match.
If your alert information is like this:
key=my-secret-key;
command=PLACE;
account=sim101;
instrument=ES 06-25;
action=BUY;
qty=1;
order_type=MARKET;
tif=DAY;
strategy=your-atm-name;
But on NinjaTrader the ATM Strategy is set to 2 Order Qty, the position will open with only 1 contract using your inner most Stop and Target bracket.
If you're a CrossTrade user trading through NinjaTrader's Automated Trading Interface (ATI), you might have encountered the "Unable to load ATM strategy template" error. This is fairly common issue, but thankfully, it's also one that's relatively easy to fix with the right approach.
This guide will walk you through the troubleshooting steps to resolve the error.
NinjaTrader 8 automatically creates the default ATM1 strategy template the very first time you submit an order without selecting a saved ATM strategy. So, ATM1 is NinjaTrader's placeholder for your most recent unsaved custom strategy.
Here’s how it works in detail:
If you place an order using the SuperDOM, Chart Trader, or any other order entry interface with ATM Strategy set to "Custom", and you don't save it manually...
NinjaTrader will automatically assign it as ATM Strategy: ATM1.
This ATM1 strategy is created as a temporary, default template, which includes the stop loss, profit target, and other settings you specified at that time.
If you don’t save the strategy manually, it disappears once the platform is closed or the strategy is replaced.
After configuring your ATM strategy settings in the order panel, click the "Save As" button next to the ATM Strategy dropdown.
Give it a name (e.g., “CrossTrade Rocks!”) and it will then appear in the dropdown for reuse.
So, ATM1 is NinjaTrader's placeholder for your most recent unsaved custom strategy.
Inside your Chart Trader properties you have options for how the ATM is selected. If not set to "Select active ATM strategy on order submission" then orders can be placed in the non-active ATM template and result in a placement without the TP and SL brackets included. To resolve: right click on your Chart Trader and select Properties. You will see this window:
These two TradingView resources are designed to help troubleshoot by firing alerts quickly.
To help with Troubleshooting issues we offer a free TradingView indicator that will force signals to be generated on every bar. When using this with the trigger "Once per bar close" each bar will send a single alert.
Be sure to also use the "flatten_first=true;" in your Alert Message so that each bar opens a new position.
Similarly to the Test Indicator, this strategy is designed to provide a code example of how to establish buy and sell signals that utilize the {{strategy.order.action}} variable, as well as provide a way to test your alerts using the variable in place of the BUY or SELL in your Action field. (e.g. action={{strategy.order.action}} vs. action=BUY;)
The free '' found in the NinjaTrader Ecosystem forum does not copy ATM templates from one account to another. It simply copies order direction and contract information. We do not recommend using this copier with crosstrade beyond very simple order submissions.
