how to use simulator

[maggiej12]

i tried to use the simulator for the first time yesterday and could not get it working...

1 - i went to file > connect > simulated data feed
2 - file > new > chart

my chart pulled up live data from that day & then started adding simulated data to that which was a totally different price range so i could not trade off of it. i waited 30 minutes, but frustrated b/c only 5 new bars from the simulated feed came across & i would have had to wait all night and next day to get enough simulated data to try to trade off of

can anyone tell me how to set up the sim so i dont have to wait this long to load the data?
is there a way to fast forward it during slow timeframes?

thanks

[NinjaTrader_RyanO]

Hi maggiej12,

Thank you for your post.

The reason for the discrepancy in prices is because the Simulated data feed is internally canned data and the prices are defined in the Instrument Manager.

If you go to Tools-->Instrument Manager and then find instrument and hit the Edit button. In the Sim Feed Start Price field please change that value to match the last price on your chart with historical data.

The Simulated Data Feed is only for real time data and as a result it will build bars in real time. If you wish to trade with the Simulated Data Feed then changing the sim feed start price is the quickest method because it will take advantage of your historical data, while building simulated data bars.

[maggiej12]

Thank you. I think i have got it figured out now.
So can i do simulated trading on the weekends when the market is not open?

Also, what is the pop up window that says "trend" for?

[NinjaTrader_RyanO]

Hi,

Yes, the Simulated Data Feed will mimic market movement so you can test trading strategies even when the market is closed.

Also, the trend slider allows you to control how quickly the market moves up or down. Since the data is internally canned you can trend the market in a given direction. It's ideal for testing ATM strategies with Auto Trail because you do not have to wait to see how the strategy would behave.