Set margin

[MasterSepp]

Hi,

just wanted to ask how to handel the margin settings. For example at the YM. Where can I define, that the margin is 6500/contract? Because this would affect the cumulated profit in percent.

Regards,

Sepp

[NinjaTrader_RyanO]

Hi Sepp,

Thank you for your post.

If this is for the sim101 account you can define the margin by going to Tools-->Options-->Simulator and define the account parameters on the left hand side.

If this is for a live trading account then those parameters are provided by the broker through the data feed, and if you need those modified you will want to contact the broker regarding your account setup.

[MasterSepp]

Doesn't seem to work. I've set now the "Margin" to 1.00, Maintenance Margin to 1.00 as well and the Margin/Unit to 6500. Still, in backtesting, the cumulated profit in percent is calculated dependant on the entry price and not the margin/unit, as it should be. And yes, it is for the sim account 101.

Regards,

Sepp

[NinjaTrader_RyanO]

Hi Sepp,

Thank you for that additional information.

For what you are wanting to do you will need to define the margin value on the instrument level.

If you go to Tools-->Instrument Manager and then highlight the particular instrument and then hit the edit button and define the margin value in that location.

[MasterSepp]

Already did that as well. Or... one question: after I change the margin value in the instrument manager, will it be set on every YM contract I have added before to my favorites list? Also for the expired ones? Or do I have to reimport them into my favorites list? If not: yes, I did that as well.

Regards,

Sepp

[NinjaTrader_RyanO]

Hi Sepp,

After modifying the instrument you will need to remove from the instrument list and then re-add so that the instruments on the list include the margin value.

[MasterSepp]

Still not working... I've changed now the margin value of the instrument to 6500, deleted it from the list and set it back on the (favorites) list. The other settings are still the same. Now I backtested and the percentage is still calculated in dependence on the entry price and not the margin value.

Regards,

Sepp

[NinjaTrader_RyanO]

Hi Sepp,

The margin value settings in the instrument will not be applied to back testing unless you specify in the order properties to use an account size when back testing.

So when you select a strategy to test there is an order properties field, and you will want set the order quantity by account size, and then define the account size for the margin values to be relevant when back testing.

[MasterSepp]

No, the quantity of contracts isn't important. What important is:
For example, you have a trade, which gets enter at 10'000 points and gets a profit of 100 points. Now if you only have a margin of 6'500, you only would have had to invest 6500$ instead of 10'000$. Therefore, the profit in percentage changes (100 from 10'000 are less than 100 from 6500). I want to get NT, that it calculates me this one correctly. Is this even possible? Because I've read in the help section, that Cumulated profit is always calculated as profit/entry price. Is there any possibility to change this to profit/margin value? I hope you could follow me.

Regards,

Sepp

[NinjaTrader_RyanO]

Hi Sepp,

What you are describing is not possible as the margin quantity in back testing is used to determine order quantity based on account size, rather than cumulative profit figures.

Those figures will be related to the particular strategy, rather than the margin of the instrument.

[MasterSepp]

Thank you for your help.

Regards,

Sepp