NinjaTrader Review and Tutorials 2020

NinjaTrader’s award-winning online trading platform aims to directly support day traders interested in futures, forex, CFDs and stock markets. This page walks you through the NinjaTrader 8 platform covering features, indicators, charts, demo accounts and compatibility with top brokers including NinjaTrader Brokerage.

 

 

Profile

Since its inception in 2004, the privately held company based in Denver, Colorado and Chicago, Illinois has attracted more than 60,000 users and more than 450 developers. It offers a sophisticated trading platform with multiple charts and a variety of features and market data services. Apps from numerous third-party apps as well as add-ons allow ample customization, fast order execution and advanced market analysis.

NinjaTrader also offers brokerage services, helping forex and futures traders alike at discounted prices.

key details

So, you know that NinjaTrader is available in multiple markets, but what are the key details you need to know before downloading the latest version?

First, there is no charge for using NinjaTrader’s standard features. This gives you free access to:

• Trading simulation
• Market Analysis
• Advanced Charts
• Backtesting and Optimization
• Automated strategy development

NinjaTrader is an open source system very similar to the MT4 (MetaTrader 4) platform. The difference is that MT4 mainly attracts forex traders, while NinjaTrader is also popular with futures traders.

Porting NinjaTrader runs on Mac OS, Windows and Linux.

Ninja Trader 8

The platform is regularly updated with the latest version of NinjaTrader 8. This feature has delivered over 500 enhancements including chart changes (more configurability), alert enhancements, improved platform, data and performance upgrades. Developers don’t stop there, more user-driven improvements are planned.

Why NinjaTrader?

Taking a quick look at blogs and forum trading, many people want to know how NinjaTrader measures against MT4, MT5, TradeStation and MultiCharts. So, with so many options available, what about NinjaTrader 8 and the rest?

• Customisability – Their simple platform is designed for traders who want to customize their platform and technical indicators. You will find floating windows and indicators not available on other platforms.
• Installation – The platform has been carefully designed for quick and easy installation. You can download and run NinjaTrader 7 or 8 in less than 10 minutes.
• Scripts – Experienced day traders often like to have access to many scripts. NinjaTrader 7 has been fantastic for this. NinjaTrader 8 has been ported to a new updated version by programmers via scripts.
• Free Simulation – This free trial uses random or real-time data updated once per day. Once you have an effective strategy, you can upgrade to live trading with real capital.
• Stop-Loss Feature – NinjaTrader has an intelligent system for you to build your strategy on, so both stop-loss and target orders are sent out as soon as you start trading. This means that if your internet connection is lost or you lose connection with your broker, your losses and target orders will be disrupted, preventing costly disasters.

Cons

Despite the number of NinjaTrader benefits, there are certain downsides and risks you should be aware of. These include:

• Market Analyzer Speed – Some reviews highlight concerns about market analyzer speed when running scans when using more than 100 symbols.
• App – Those who want a native NinjaTrader mobile app for Android or Apple devices will be disappointed. CQG Mobile is available to those using NinjaTrader Brokerage. There has also been discussion of a native mobile app, so iOS and Android users may get lucky soon.
• Difficult to learn – This is especially true for the NinjaTrader 7 version. However, the latest version, NinjaTrader 8, has addressed this to some extent. You can now find a variety of helpful online video tutorials, guides and websites, along with free daily webinars hosted by our support team.
• Narrow focus – Today’s traders are increasingly interested in Bitcoin and cryptocurrency markets. NinjaTrader offers charting and analysis capabilities with Coinbase data integrated directly into the platform, but order execution is currently unavailable. For real-time trading, NinjaTrader is dedicated to providing current trading futures, forex, stocks and CFDs.

NinjaTrader tools and features

One of the first questions many prospective traders will have is about the trading tools and features on offer. Fortunately, Platform and brokerage reviews report high levels of satisfaction with both.

Charting

In terms of charting capabilities, NinjaTrader scores high. Their comprehensive tools complement your trading idea with a user-friendly and highly customizable system.

They provide:

• Clear and powerful market visualization
• Multi-frame and multi-instrument analysis
• There are 100s of pre-built custom indicators and hundreds of optional third-party indicator add-ons.

allows access to

• Gap indicator
• News indicator
• Trend indicators
• Swing indicator
• Volume Oscillator
• Inversion indicator
• Volatility indicator
• Value area indicator
• Divergence Indicator
• Elliot Wave Indicator
• Average daily range indicator

Trade Management

NinjaTrader’s SuperDOM order entry and trade management system enhances customizability. Benefits include:

• Simple trading visualization
• Single-click order entry, modification and cancellation
• Can also be used with Advanced Trade Management (ATM) module

Advanced Trade Management

The NinjaTrader ATM module is a strong selling point. Their sophisticated technology allows you to predefine your personal trading management strategy. These include:

• Numerous profit targets and stop-loss orders
• 1 Cancellation (OCO) order
• Auto breakeven point
• Trailing loss

This automatically submits entry and exit orders within milliseconds, allowing for greater margins. Not to mention, it saves you the time and stress of manually managing multiple exit orders in a volatile market.

 

 

Automation

Daily trading volume is increasingly represented by machine learning algorithms . This is because developing a consistent and effective strategy and then automating it can lead to increased dosage.

When programmed to a criterion, the algorithm/bot will start and exit trades as soon as the criterion is met. This allows you to do a lot more trades than you could do manually.

NinjaTrader allows you to automate your trading strategies whether developed using NinjaScript or located in an external application.

You have the ability:

• Automated strategy development and purchase
• Automated strategy analysis and execution
• Handling transaction signals from external applications
• Create or purchase third-party custom chart indicators.

Market Replay

NinjaTrader offers a very useful market replay feature. You can download historical data and rewind to a specific date so you can practice trading on the market as if you were there. It’s great for developing strategies or spotting Fibonacci levels, for example.

Other Analytical Tools

NinjaTrader offerings also extend to trading performance tools and market and strategy analysts. All of them can help you improve your daily trading performance.

Also, NinjaTrader’s minimum system and hardware requirements are industry standard, so most users should be able to download the full version of 7 and 8. Then you can find programming and coding manuals in our video library.

Overall, various custom charting and trading simulation programs are available when it comes to trading tools and features. It also has extensive data feeds, index lists, intelligent programming capabilities, and reliable support forums.

To get the most out of the service, you should log in and spend some time exploring our video library and educational offerings.

NinjaTrader Training

Using a new platform is challenging. Fortunately, NinjaTrader offers a range of training and support to improve your trading software use. We offer webinars, instructional videos, and help guides daily, and we have an active user community.

You can use the above method to:

• Price quote
• Inventory Scanner
• Other plugins
• Subscribe to data
• Order type and quantity
• Strategy templates and tutorials
• brokered withdrawals and financing
• Output Window and Stop Limit Sequence

But if you still don’t have an answer you can contact NinjaTrader via email or support forum. They run a 20-person helpdesk team of NinjaTrader experts to ensure you get the most out of the platform.

How…

Many of the educational materials available relate to frequently asked questions by traders. For example, the majority are “how”.

• How to place a stop loss
• How to delete a strategy
• How to trade futures
• How to use Ninjatrader 9

… and many more.

These queries are often answered directly through webinars or video tutorials. The videos last about 2-3 minutes and cover very specific topics like charts or connecting platforms. The Youtube channel also hosts videos, but they are particularly short.

The webinars last much longer and traders have to register, but they get more detailed information.

Demo account

A NinjaTrader demo account is a fantastic opportunity for beginners to familiarize themselves with the market and trading platform. Also, downloading the demo account software is simple.

Go to their website and click either Trade Futures or Trade FX. Then scroll down and enter the information for your demo account. All you need is to fill in your email address and your location. You will receive an email with your login information and steps to download the platform if you have not downloaded it.

Overall, trading simulator reviews rate this service highly, and it’s not hard to see why. Aspiring scalpers can hone their skills on Heiken-Ashi charts, accessing replay features, market and volume profiles, and more.

Then, once you’ve built your trust, you can open a live trading account funded with real capital.

Cost

When you sign up and log in with your demo account, you will receive information from your NinjaTrader broker. It details exchange fees and other costs associated with broker services.

The main costs are:

• The minimum deposit for a futures trading account is $1,000.
• The minimum deposit for a Forex trading account is $50.
• S & The daily trading margin on popular futures such as P 500 Emini is $500.
• Mini Dax and FTSE 100 futures both have $1000 margin
• Commissions start at around $0.53 per contract. However, this depends on whether you buy or rent the NinjaTrader platform or use the free version.
• NinjaTrader’s lifetime license costs $1099. Alternatively, you can pay $329 for 4 months. If you choose to rent, it costs $720 per year, $425 for 6 months, or $225 quarterly.

NinjaTrader’s lifetime license costs $999. Alternatively, you can pay $299 twice monthly. If you choose to rent, it will cost you $600 per year, $330 for 6 months, or $180 quarterly.

Also, the fees may be slightly higher if you choose to use the free version of NinjaTrader.

NinjaTrader 7 and NinjaTrader 8

The release of NinjaTrader 8 has been highly anticipated. The system requirements for 8 remain similar to those of 7, so once you have one you can migrate to another without too much hassle. You can use 8 on Mac or Windows.

These are 8 major improvements out of 500 changes

• Increase speed
• Past bid request data
• Substantial chart improvements
• Market data timestamp in seconds
• Ability to add custom columns and metrics to SuperDOM

Eight reviews show that customers are happy with the many changes, but if you don’t want to download the latest version, the full version should be 7 working. Indeed, many traders point out that much of their knowledge and experience with NinjaTrader 7 can be applied directly to the 8 download.

NinjaTrader 8 tutorials, strategy makers and backtesting instructions can all be found by going to our trading forums or our educational video library.

It’s also worth noting that, unfortunately, there are no NT 8 mobile features at all.

brokerage compatibility

NinjaTrader exists as a broker independent trading platform. However, there are several brokers supported in the UK and other countries. In fact, NinjaTrader has a multi-broker license. This gives traders the opportunity to choose where to conduct trades.

However, there is a risk of communication delay between some platforms. So, for a seamless transition from platform to broker, choose one of the brokers currently available through NinjaTrader Brokerage. It also supports major independent market data service providers such as Kinetick.

 

 

Overall, there are a number of forex brokers and futures brokers that can use the NinjaTrader software. In fact, you can choose from several internationally supported broker technologies, including:

• CQG
• FXCM
• MB Trading
• TD Ameritrade
• Clear Coretora
• Oh I know
• Interactive broker
• NinjaTrader Rithmic
• Ninja Traders Continuum
• GAIN Capital / FOREX.com

NinjaTrader additionally supports a variety of additional market data providers including:

• Electronic signals
• TradeStation
• Yahoo Finance
• Import meta stock
• IQFeed of Telvent DTN
• Import history data based on text file

For a full list of instruments, including stocks, forex and futures, please see their respective brokerage websites.

NinjaTrader customer service

Every second in the weekly trading game costs money. So you don’t want to sit around for hours waiting for NinjaTrader to fix any technical glitches or account issues. Fortunately, we have 24/5 tech support and 24/7 urgent transaction support in multiple languages, so no matter the time of day, there’s someone around.

Help with:

• Set notifications
• Get account balance
• Ensure you understand the price
• How to Stop Loss and Get Currency Prices
• Initial Margin Requirements and Daily Loss Limit
• Instructions for strategists and examples
• Find tick charts and automated trading strategies
• Information about holiday times and important calendar dates
• Understand license and leverage terms, including daily margin requirements and inactivity fees

Technical and brokerage support is available within the timeframe required, but NinjaTrader does not feature a live chat service to speed up your treatment. But overall, emails are answered quickly and support is fairly industry standard.

See their website for emergency trade phone numbers where you are located.

Connection problems or systems not starting can often be tracked down on support forums. This is a great resource. Downtime (schedule or otherwise) is reported first.

final word

If you are looking for robust software and market data, NinjaTrader is worth a look. However, this program can take a few weeks to get used to, especially for beginners. If you don’t have a native iPhone or iPad app or Android app, but use a NinjaTrader brokerage, you can use CQG Desktop to access your account on the go.

But overall, it has a vibrant trading community, a wealth of educational resources, and a high degree of customization. By choosing NinjaTrader Brokerage, you will not only benefit from the low margins and fees, but also keep your costs low.

Accepted countries

NinjaTrader trades in the United States, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Nigeria, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Tokelau, Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, Belgium, Brazil, United Kingdom, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Egypt, France, Switzerland, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Bolivia, Colombia

Frequently Asked Questions