Adding "Broker Commissions" in a Sim a/c

[Rocket130713]

hello,

I'm running a "simulated" trading strategy performance test using the Sim101 account, to get an idea of how my trading strategy "might" run in real-time. When i do this, in the "accounts performance" section (tab) can I add "broker commissions" so as then i can look at ALL my trade profits and losses AFTER subtracting $10 broker commission per round turn??

also for LIVE trading using a real account with my broker (not a sim101 a/c) will my MF Global broker's commissions ($10 per round turn in total) show up in the "accounts performance" window within NT, for a LIVE trading account and using NT for LIVE trading??

Thank you.

Regards

Rod

[NinjaTrader_Jason]

Hello Rod,

Unfortunately you cannot apply commissions costs for orders that already have been made.

Please see the link below how commissions can be setup in NinjaTrader.

http://www.ninjatrader-support.com/HelpGuideV6/CommissionTab.html

You can setup commissions in the Instrument Manager as well. These will override the commissions you have setup in the Options menu.

http://www.ninjatrader-support.com/HelpGuideV6/AddingCommissionRates.html

A minimum commission will apply commissions per side per order.

A commission level will apply commissions per side per contract/share.

Once you setup commissions, they will be applied as per the orders you submit thereafter.

No, broker commissions will not be included in the Account Performance-tab. However it will include commissions you setup in NinjaTrader.

[tradetree]

I am puzzled by this and want to make sure I understand. When I have a Sim101 simulation and apply a strategy to the chart, when I then use "Strategy Performance" to see how my strategy performed I can't see commissions? I have a live license for NT, so why would it not give that information? It gives the number of trades in the test, so all that would be displayed would be #trades * cost/trade for commissions. All the data is there. It is just a convenience for all the following statistics such as profit factor, which right now are wrong. If you don't factor in commissions then optimizations are meaningless. How can you optimize for a situation that does not exist? Please fill me in. Thanks.

[NinjaTrader_Jason]

Hello tradetree,

You can see commissions as long as you setup them up before your run your strategy.

You will need to setup commissions for the connection you will connect to in NinjaTrader and the instrument type you intend to trade.

Unfortunately commission information cannot be loaded from your connectivity provider, so you will need to set it up manually in NinjaTrader.

[tradetree]

I do not see any commissions applied. Here is what I have done:
1) Control Center:Tools:Options:Commissions tab I added commissions for all account connection providers as well as "Simulator." I added commissions for futures, forex, and stocks.
2) In Chart:Strategies:Enabled I set to "True". Chart is ES 12-10 futures.
3) In Chart:Strategy Performance I select the "Historical" performance for my strategy.

There are 59 trades with a profit factor of "3.0" and "Commissions" are zero. I see the same thing in the Strategy Analyzer windows.

[NinjaTrader_Jason]

Unfortunately commissions will not be applied to historical strategy orders, but orders that are submitted in real-time only. Do you see commissions if you select 'Real-time' instead of 'Historical'?

In order to setup commissions as per the Strategy Analyzer, you will need to setup commissions for 'Simulator'. When I test it on my end, I see commission applied as expected.

Can you please tell me how exactly you setup commissions - do you use a minimum commission or commission levels?

[tradetree]

I set the "Minimum Level" to $4 and "No commission levels defined." Can you elaborate on the thinking behind this commission system? It does not work like this in any other backtesting/quant/strategy software I've ever seen. I use TradeStation right now as I consider moving over to NT, and they backtest with commissions, as it is common sense. Can you put this in as a bug?

[NinjaTrader_RyanM1]

TradeTree,

You need to define a commission level. Click the box with three dots [...], then new and then define the commission per units. You won't see commission until you do this step. Please see here for more information on commissions in NinjaTrader:

http://www.ninjatrader-support.com/HelpGuideV6/CommissionTab.html

Critical: Make sure Apply Commission to PnL setting is checked under Tools > Options.

[tradetree]

I added commission levels to all categories according to the documentation. I also checked the "Apply Commission to PnL setting." I re enabled strategies and ran "Historical & Real Time" performance. I still get 0 for the commissions.

[NinjaTrader_RyanM1]

Most likely it is not setup properly. Please see my attached screenshots for additional help. If you're still running into issues, can you attach screenshots of your setup.

[tradetree]

I found two differences:
1) I used commission level of 4/0 instead of 4/1 because the official documentation said that "0" for the unit would indicate it was the commission for any number of contracts. I think either of these would work for a 1 contract strategy, which this is.
2) I was not using "Strategy Analyzer" tool, but the "Strategy Performance" tool in the chart window. The "Strategy Analyzer" does appear to have commissions, which is a big relief. That is the important one.

I guess I also expected to see commissions in the "Historical" "Strategy Performance" test. I think this should be put in as a question, unless it is still an error on my part, as to how this is intended to work? I think "commissions" are integral to "performance" and would never want to see one without the other.

[NinjaTrader_Jason]

Hello tradetree,

Unfortunately commissions will not be applied to historical orders when you run strategies in a chart in real-time, only for orders submitted in real-time.

If you like to see commissions calculated on historical orders, I suggest to use the Strategy Analyzer.

[BrianL]

I'm having a similar issue with the commissions not being applied. However for me it is not the "Strategy Analyzer" that is the problem - for me, it is in the "Account Performance" tab of the Control Center where my commission levels are not applied to the Sim101 acct after generating a report on the past X days. I'm not running a strategy but rather these were manual executions I did myself on the Sim101 account.

Ironically, when I also include the executions I've done in my Live account when generating a report I can see that the commissions were applied and I can see the total for the Live account, but not for the Sim101 acct within the same report.

Maybe this was answered earlier but I have done the following and still don't see commissions added to the "Account Performance" tab in the Control center.

- I have checked Apply Commission to PnL under Tools > Options.
- I have my Commission level set to 2.25 with 0 as the Units for a continuous rate. Both the commission levels and units are set up identically for Sim101 and Trading Technologies (Live acct).

Still nothing and it seems like it should be reported since my Live acct commissions are showing up.

??

[NinjaTrader_Jason]

Hello BrianL,

Did you setup commission for the Simulator (sim101) before you submitted the orders? If you setup commissions after you performed the trades, it will not display any commission when generating reports. You will only display commission for trades performed after you setup commissions.

Could you please post a screenshot of how commissions are currently setup.

What happens if you now submit some simulation test orders and generate a report - does it reflect commission?

[BrianL]

Hello BrianL,

Did you setup commission for the Simulator (sim101) before you submitted the orders? If you setup commissions after you performed the trades, it will not display any commission when generating reports. You will only display commission for trades performed after you setup commissions.

Could you please post a screenshot of how commissions are currently setup.

What happens if you now submit some simulation test orders and generate a report - does it reflect commission?

I've had the Sim101 acct set up for a while now the same as for my TT commissions. I get live commission reports jsut fine but Sim101 still none. Here's some screen shot of my settings. I even re-did the commission setting this morning and entered another trade on the NQ about 15 mins ago and still no commissions being added under Account Performance tab in Control Center.