Trading with Hot Keys

Hot Keys can be assigned to order actions and used to place orders within NinjaTrader order entry windows.

Hot Keys are a powerful and versatile trading tool. However, misuse can lead to unexpected trades and therefore loss of money. There are several features of the Hot Keys that you should become familiar with before using them for order entry to limit the risk of unexpected order placement.

Active Window

You must always be aware of the current active window when using Hot Keys for order entry. Order entry Hot Keys are window sensitive and will only execute an action to the active order entry window. Please see the "Understanding where Hot Key order entry is active" section on this page for more information on this topic.

Using the incorrect Hot Key

It is imperative that you know what Hot Key performs what action. It is easy to confuse Ctrl+B with Shift +B which may both enter different types of orders. For this reason, we recommend printing your Hot Keys after assigning for easy reference. Please see the "How to print your Hot Keys for reference" section of the Working with Hot Keys page of the Help Guide.

When Hot Keys are inactive

When you close the Hot Key Manager window, you will see the message shown in the image to the right. A modal form is a window that is always on top and always selected. (An example is the modal form message window itself.) It is important to understand that ALL Hot Keys are inactive anytime a model form window is open.

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To enable order entry Hot Keys

From within the Control Center window select the Tools menu and then select the menu name Options. Once in the General tab, select "Use order entry hot keys."

Assigning Hot Keys

1. Select Order Entry from the left menu in the Hot Key Manager window.

2. Left mouse click in the order action where you want to assign a Hot Key.

3. Left mouse click the drop down arrow.

4. Select the desired Modifier (Optional).

5. Select the desired Key and press the OK button.

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Order Entry Hot Keys will only submit from the the active order entry window. This is important to understand, especially if using multiple order entry windows such as Chart Trader and SuperDOMs.

Order Entry Windows

Below is a list of all of the order entry windows available in NinjaTrader.

Identifying the Active Window

The active window is usually the window that was last clicked on and has the top most view. You will also notice that the active window's close button in the upper right hand corner is red compared to an inactive window that has a grey close button.

The screen capture below to the left shows the SuperDOM as the active window whereas the screen capture in the lower right shows the Chart with Chart Trader as the active window. If you had placed an order using a Hot Key when the SuperDOM was active, you would have placed an order to the ES 09-09. If you had placed an order using a Hot Key when Chart Trader was active, you would have placed an order to the NQ 03-10. It is important to always be aware of the active window when using Hot Keys to submit orders.

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Pre-defined order actions

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Buy Ask	Submits a buy limit order at the current ask price
Buy Bid	Submits a buy limit order at the current bid price
Buy Market	Submits a buy market order
Sell Ask	Submits a sell limit order at the current ask price
Sell Bid	Submits a sell limit order at the current bid price
Sell Market	Submits a sell market order
Breakeven ATM Strategy	Modifies your stop loss order to your break-even price for the ATM Strategy on the active window
Breakeven Position	Modifies any stops to your break-even price for any open position.
Cancel last Order	Cancels the last submitted order
Close ATM Strategy	Cancels any pending orders and exits any open positions activated by an ATM Strategy
Close Position	Closes any open position on the active order entry window
Decrease Last Order Price	Decreases the price of the last submitted pending order by one tick
Increase Last Order Price	Increases the price of the last submitted pending order by one tick
Modify Last Order to Fill	Modifies the price of the last submitted pending order by 15 ticks past the last traded price in order to fill the order.
Reverse	Closes your open position and any related ATM orders and submits a market order in the opposite direction to reverse your open position.

"Last Order" Hot Key note:

For any Hot Key that references "last order," such as "Cancel last order," last order is defined as:

The last order submitted that is not a stop or target order generated by an ATM Strategy

NinjaTrader allows you to create custom order actions within the Order Entry section of the Hot Key Manager.

To create a Custom Order action with an associated Hot Key

1. Select the Order Entry section of the Hot Key Manager.

2. Right click over any field in the Order Entry section and select the Add Custom Order... menu item.

3. Select an Action.

4. Select an Order type (Limit offset allows you to enter the number of ticks your limit order will be submitted away from the stop order when using a StopLimit Order type).

5. Select the price the order will be submitted at. You can choose a number of ticks above (Plus) or below (Minus) the current Ask or Bid.

6. Press the OK button.

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To remove Custom Order actions

Right click in the Custom Order action field you wish to remove and select the Remove Custom Order menu item.