How to Place Trades in NinjaTrader 8 SuperDOM
Use NinjaTrader? You will have to know how to place trades. The SuperDOM is what we use. In other platforms, it’s called a price ladder or a matrix. Think of it as a remote control for the market. You can place different types of buy and sell orders. Open a SuperDOM window via NinjaTrader’s Control Center > New > SuperDOM (Dynamic). You should then see the SuperDOM. With the SuperDOM window now visible, you must make one very important adjustment: select the instrument you want to trade. Normally, the instrument you select (e.g. ES 12-17) should match the chart you’re looking at.
There are three types of orders that you’re probably going to use. The most common will probably be Market Orders. These orders are placed at the current market price (whatever the market is currently trading at) and can be placed long or short (buy or sell). On the SuperDOM, the current market price has a yellow highlight. Note that the SuperDOM has two columns: a buy column on the left and a sell column on the right. At the bottom of each column, there is a Market button. Click this button to place a corresponding Market Order.
Limit orders are the next order type. Think of this type as saying to the market, “I want this price or better.” There are specific rules for placing limit orders. If you want to place a buy limit order, you can only place the order below where price is currently trading. Left-click the price you want in the buy column of the SuperDOM below the current market price. If prompted, click Yes to accept the order. The same approach works for placing sell limit orders, only you will need to place them above where price is currently trading. After placing a limit order, note how “LMT” appears on the SuperDOM to indicate the type of order in play. If price touches your limit order, there is no guarantee that you will be filled. If price goes through your limit order, then you should be filled.
How to Place Trades Using 2 More Order Types
The next common order type is a stop order. A stop order is almost like the opposite of a limit order. Place a buy stop order above the current price you want to buy at. Similarly, place a sell stop order below the price you want to sell at. To place a stop order, click your middle mouse button on the desired price in either the buy or sell column. A little popup will appear, that lets you specify the limit (effectively making your order a “stop with limit” order), which indicates the amount of slippage you are willing to accept. If you leave the value at 0, then you are not willing to accept any slippage. If you set the value to 1, then you are willing to accept 1 tick of slippage. Stop orders can also be used as a protective measure to get you out at a specific price. Refer to the video for more information. If you hold the Ctrl key on your keyboard and use the middle mouse button click, a regular stop order will be used.
Lastly, the video discussed MIT (Market If Touched). MIT orders help ensure a fill when price touches a desired price, instead of going through. An MIT order is placed as a limit order, which then becomes a market order. To place one of these, use the Ctrl key + the left mouse button.
To learn how to place trades, be sure to watch the video in its entirety because there are a number of important tips at the end. See more trading videos here.