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Why Is The Profit And Loss Different Across Follower Accounts?

No trade copier is flawless. The diverse configurations of NinjaTrader with other third party indicators, including many possibilities of entry and exit methods, make it very difficult to handle every situation perfectly. Computer hardware, data feed connections, and Internet issues are also contributors to trade copier issues.

The ‘Accounts Dashboard’ window has two modes of operation, ‘Executions’ mode and ‘Orders’ mode. To switch between modes, simply click the button labeled “Executions” or “Orders” at the top of the window.

 

Executions Mode

When using Duplicate Account Actions in ‘Executions’ mode, a spread across all accounts can occur due to differences in fill prices during trade execution.  This happens because market orders are sent to Follower accounts based on the execution events from the Master account.  As a result, both positive and negative slippage may occur.  The negative affect of slippage on the Follower accounts will increase based on:

  • high number of contracts being traded
  • high total number of trades
  • Stop Market orders will tend to be more affected
  • the trading strategy employed, and overall market volatility.

These factors can cause discrepancies in the price at which trades are filled across multiple accounts. If the slippage across Follower accounts is too high when using ‘Executions’ mode, we recommend switching to ‘Orders’ mode to minimize the potential for slippage.

 

Orders Mode

This is the more complicated but could be a bit more profitable and safer for situations when Internet is disconnected. When set to “Orders” mode, Duplicate Account Actions will place, move, and cancel orders to keep all accounts in sync with one another. This has been tested with all standard order types.

Each Master and Follower account has independent exit orders. Each entry order placed on the Follower accounts has a unique ATM Strategy – in other words, when an entry order is filled, exit orders get placed on that account only. When using different ‘Multiplier’ settings for each Follower account in the ‘Size’ column, the ATM Strategy is modified so that the ‘Multiplier’ is adjusted for each exit order. This is important and unique compared to other trade copier solutions.

 

Testing And Troubleshooting ‘Orders’ Mode

Adding Simulated Accounts //     The Accounts Dashboard cannot be tested using the “Simulated Data Feed” or “Playback” connections. You must have an active connection with a live data feed to use the Accounts Dashboard window. You should create multiple simulated accounts to test your knowledge of the software before using it on live accounts. In the NinjaTrader Control Center, Accounts tab, you can create an unlimited number of simulated accounts. Right click in the extra space and select ‘Add Simulated Account…’ – in the Name field, change ‘Account1’ to ‘102’ and repeat this process with ‘103’, ‘104’, ‘105’ and more until you have between 5 and 40 accounts created for testing purposes.

Trade Micro Contracts //     In some cases, you may want to test trade entry and trade exit methods, on real prop firm accounts.  In this case, you can trade Micro contracts, and have minimal impact on your account balance.  It is wise to reproduce your exact entry, exit, and trade management commands, on the Master account, and track everything across Follower accounts.

Pay Attention //     There are complex situations where it could be possible for Follower accounts to get out of sync with one another. You should always track pending orders, closely, to further diagnose situations when pending order prices get out of sync with one another.

Control Center, Orders Tab //     In the Control Center window, open the Orders tab. Click the Time column until the arrow is pointing down – this will sort all pending orders by the most recently placed or changed order. Track this window as you are placing and moving orders on the Master account, to make sure it is working correctly, to keep all Follower account orders in sync with one another. If you notice a situation where orders are not moving correctly across all Follower accounts, we can begin to recreate the situation, and then troubleshoot it further!

Chart Windows //     I also recommend opening simple, small Chart windows – with Minute data, no indicators added, and the standard Chart Trader visible – for the Master account and each Follower account. When doing this, you watch the complete process, from the moment the trade entry is placed to the moment every trade exit is completed. As you watch the Follower accounts, you will be able to diagnose and document situations when things get out of sync, so issues can be truly understood and then potentially resolved. Taking ownership over this will help our team help you.

Profit & Loss //     Here are some other situations that could cause profit and loss to be slightly out of sync, when comparing the Master account with Follower accounts.

  • If a market order is used to enter or exit a trade, the Follower accounts may not have the fill price as the Master account.
  • When a Stop Market order is triggered, the Follower accounts may not have the fill price as the Master account.

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