Yes, you can carry a position overnight as long as your account meets the initial margin requirements. Also referred to as exchange margin, this is the minimum amount, per contract, required by the exchange that must be maintained in your account to hold a position overnight.

The margin requirement for carrying a position between trading sessions is significantly greater than the margin required to hold a position only during regular trading hours. As a reminder, your account must meet the initial margin requirements 15 minutes prior to the session close if you plan to carry the position.

It is important to understand the risk associated with holding a position overnight such as exposure to potential adverse price movement occurring outside of normal trading hours. Learn more about carrying a position overnight.

Yes, NinjaTrader Desktop provides direct visibility to your available excess margin helping you manage your positions to meet margin requirements. Learn how to add visibility to your available margin here.

Yes. All plans (Free, Monthly, Lifetime) require a funded, approved live account before benefits become active.

• Early closes due to holidays are common & Intraday margin is not extended through the holiday trading halt. All positions must satisfy the Initial Margin rates set by the exchanges 15 minutes prior to the early close.
• Initial Margin is also required on holidays when trading sessions span multiple days.

Due to daylight savings time differences in March & November, Eurex session times will shift by 1 hour until both regions are on the same schedule.

Any amount greater than $0 qualifies.* Once your funds settle, your access will be enabled automatically.

*ACH and debit card transfers are subject to a $5.00 minimum.

NinjaTrader offers three pricing plans. The Free plan has no monthly fee and commissions of $0.39 per side on Micro futures contracts and $1.29 per side on Standard contracts. The Monthly plan is $99/month with reduced commissions of $0.29/Micro and $0.99/Standard. The Lifetime plan is a one-time payment of $1,499 with the lowest commissions: $0.09/Micro and $0.59/Standard.

Futures contracts are only active for a specific amount of time before they expire. Prior to a contract expiring, futures traders must either 1) exit their active position or 2) “roll” their position to a later contract of the same underlying asset which extends the expiration period. Learn more about roll dates.

To activate your plan benefits—including real-time market data, trading access, and add-ons—your account must first be funded.

Yes. NinjaTrader is always free to use for advanced charting, strategy backtesting, and simulated (paper) trading — no time limit and no funding required. The Free plan also lets you trade live futures with no monthly fee at slightly higher commission rates. A free 14-day trial of streaming live market data is included when you open an account.

NinjaTrader commissions are charged per side (per entry or exit), so a round trip is double the listed rate. Free plan: $0.39/Micro, $1.29/Standard. Monthly plan ($99/mo): $0.29/Micro, $0.99/Standard. Lifetime plan ($1,499 one-time): $0.09/Micro, $0.59/Standard. Exchange, clearing, and NFA fees apply on top of these commissions, as they do at every regulated U.S. futures broker.

The Lifetime plan is a one-time payment of $1,499 that unlocks the lowest available commission rates ($0.09/Micro, $0.59/Standard, per side) for the life of your account. Lifetime also includes premium feature add-ons like Order Flow+, full real-time data eligibility (once your account is funded), and waives the recurring monthly platform fee charged on the Monthly plan.

Please use the Trade Desk for emergencies and live orders only. Be prepared to provide your NinjaTrader Brokerage account number. For trades that are closed, we encourage you to email [email protected] and provide your account number and a summary of the trade in question.

While true that having an account balance equal to the intraday margin requirement will allow you to open a position, we strongly encourage traders to view this as the minimum required to maintain a futures position.

Please note: Your account will be liquidated if the balance goes below $50 if trading a $25 margin contract.

A position limit is a preset number of contracts a trader may hold, long or short, at any one time. These limits are in place to control the exposure of any one trader.

Specific to each futures contract, position limits are determined primarily based on the liquidity and volatility of that market.

You’ll regain full access to those features once your account is funded. If you only purchased an add-on without funding your account, some benefits will remain unavailable.

Trading at “full leverage” means leaving no excess margin and therefore no room for error. While trading at full leverage, if a trade moves one tick against you, your position is subject to risk of forced liquidation from the Trade Desk. As this type of trading significantly increases your risk of forced liquidation (and incurring a loss), it is strongly discouraged. Learn more about maintaining the appropriate excess margin.

Excess margin can be defined as the amount of equity in a brokerage account above the minimum margin requirements. Managing excess margin is an important concept in futures trading as failure to maintain sufficient levels of margin can result in the liquidation of your position and fines.

If you fail to maintain the required margin, you may receive a margin call and requiring the deposit of additional funds or potentially have your positions liquidated by the Trade Desk.

It is always best to contact the Trade Desk with non-emergencies by emailing [email protected].

No. If your balance reaches $0, access to features like real-time market data, trading access, and add-ons will pause at the start of the next renewal cycle and reactivate once your account is funded again.