Sessions & time¶
When the strategy may trade: up to three daily windows (Subsessions) with their own trade limits, the days of the week, and a time exit that closes a position after a number of bars or seconds. Times are the chart's time zone and follow the market data's time stamps, never your computer's clock.
Subsessions¶
Each window has a start and an end, a maximum of trades and its own daily profit and loss limits. Block after previous stops a window once an earlier one hit its limit.
| Parameter | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| S1 Enable | Off | Take entries inside this window. With all subsessions off, the whole session is traded. |
| S1 Start | 09:30 | Start of the window, in the chart's time zone. A start at or after the end means the window spans midnight. |
| S1 End | 11:00 | End of the window, in the chart's time zone. |
| S1 Max profit | 0 | Profit (in currency) of this subsession's trades after which it takes no more entries today. 0 = off. |
| S1 Max loss | 0 | Loss (in currency) of this subsession's trades after which it takes no more entries today. 0 = off. |
| S1 Max trades | 0 | Once this many entries have filled in this subsession, no more entries in it for the rest of the day. A rejected or cancelled order does not count. 0 = off. |
| S2 Enable | Off | Take entries inside this window of the trading session. With all subsessions off, the whole session is traded. |
| S2 Start | 11:00 | Start of the window, in the chart's time zone. A start at or after the end means the window spans midnight. |
| S2 End | 14:00 | End of the window, in the chart's time zone. |
| S2 Max profit | 0 | Profit (in currency) of this subsession's trades after which it takes no more entries today. 0 = off. |
| S2 Max loss | 0 | Loss (in currency) of this subsession's trades after which it takes no more entries today. 0 = off. |
| S2 Max trades | 0 | Once this many entries have filled in this subsession, no more entries in it for the rest of the day. A rejected or cancelled order does not count. 0 = off. |
| S2 Block after | Off | Skip this subsession for the day if the previous enabled one reached the chosen limit. Off: never skip. |
| S3 Enable | Off | Take entries inside this window of the trading session. With all subsessions off, the whole session is traded. |
| S3 Start | 14:00 | Start of the window, in the chart's time zone. A start at or after the end means the window spans midnight. |
| S3 End | 16:00 | End of the window, in the chart's time zone. |
| S3 Max profit | 0 | Profit (in currency) of this subsession's trades after which it takes no more entries today. 0 = off. |
| S3 Max loss | 0 | Loss (in currency) of this subsession's trades after which it takes no more entries today. 0 = off. |
| S3 Max trades | 0 | Once this many entries have filled in this subsession, no more entries in it for the rest of the day. A rejected or cancelled order does not count. 0 = off. |
| S3 Block after | Off | Skip this subsession for the day if the previous enabled one reached the chosen limit. Off: never skip. |
Days of Week¶
| Parameter | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Sunday | Off | Take entries on Sundays. With every day of the week switched off the filter does nothing and all days are traded. |
| Monday | On | Take entries on Mondays. With every day of the week switched off the filter does nothing and all days are traded. |
| Tuesday | On | Take entries on Tuesdays. With every day of the week switched off the filter does nothing and all days are traded. |
| Wednesday | On | Take entries on Wednesdays. With every day of the week switched off the filter does nothing and all days are traded. |
| Thursday | On | Take entries on Thursdays. With every day of the week switched off the filter does nothing and all days are traded. |
| Friday | On | Take entries on Fridays. With every day of the week switched off the filter does nothing and all days are traded. |
| Saturday | Off | Take entries on Saturdays. With every day of the week switched off the filter does nothing and all days are traded. |
Time exit¶
| Parameter | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Time unit | Bars | What After is counted in: bars of the chart, or seconds of market time - the data's own time stamps, never the computer's clock. |
| After (bars) | 60 | Close the position once it has been open this many bars of the chart, whatever its result. |
| After (s) | 3600 | Close the position once it has been open this many seconds of market time, whatever its result. |
Exit on session close¶
The closing of positions at the end of the session is NinjaTrader's standard Exit on session close - in the strategy's settings, with Exit on session close (seconds). The session's end comes from the chart's Trading hours template.
- From that many seconds before the end, NinjaTrader closes the open position and cancels its orders.
- During that window the strategy takes no new entries and does not put a stop or target back.
- Most strategies of the pack switch it on in their defaults - see Core defaults on the strategy's page. Switch it off to hold positions through the session break.
Trading hours¶
The strategy's trading session - when it starts, when it ends, when a new trading day begins - is the Trading hours template of its data series, not a setting of the strategy:
- Choose it in the chart's Data Series window (or in the strategy's settings when it is added from the Strategies tab), under Trading hours - for example CME US Index Futures ETH (the full electronic session) or RTH (regular hours only).
- Edit or create templates in Control Center → Tools → Trading Hours.
It decides the end of the session for Exit on session close, the start of a new trading day for the strategy's daily limits and day levels, and the hours the strategy sees at all. Subsessions narrow the trading further, inside the session.