Profit, Real, and Unrealized Profit questions

[mikesmen40]

I have some questions on how these market analyzer columns work and how they display in there given cells. Lately i've been second guessing myself about their individual functions and at what time of day they zero out or update.

Profit loss column- If i place an order and close it out for $100 profit. This $100 will stay in the profit loss column? If i place another order in the same instrument and lose $50. Then $50 will remain in the profit loss cell? At what time will this be zeroed out? I thought this column used to zero out after each closed trade but it seems like it keeps a running tally like realized profit/loss.

Unrealized profit/loss -- If i place an order, this column reflects price change, positive or negative on a per trade basis. When i close the order, this column returns to zero,correct?

Realized Profit/loss -- Keeps a profit tally of all closed orders of a given instrument, correct? At what time will this be zero or update?

To me it seems the only difference between profit/loss and realized profit/loss is that the P/L column floats with the market and the realized variant just updates after the order is closed. Am i missing something here? I'm not sure if my P/L column is working correctly, so if you could shed some light on these differences...that would help me a lot. Thank you

[NinjaTrader_ChristopherJ]

Hello,

Thank you for your post.

Unrealized - Your understanding is correct and this column will zero out after you have exited that position or the account is back to flat for that instrument.

Realilzed - Correct this will give a running total for the account and this instrument which will reset back to zere after your broker maintenance if trading a Live account and after the Simulator reset if trading the simulation account which occurs thru the night.

Please let me know if I may be of further assistance.

[mikesmen40]

Ok, thank you Christopher.

Just to clarify, does the Profit/Loss column behave like i stated in the other post? I'm not sure of the correct behavior with this..sorry

[NinjaTrader_ChristopherJ]

Correct the Realized and Unrealized columns within the Market Analyzer window will update and zero out as outlined.

[mikesmen40]

I'm sorry Christopher, I apologize for being a pain. I'm just curious about the correct behavior for the "Profit/Loss" column preferably, Not the Real or Unreal columns. Thanks

[NinjaTrader_ChristopherJ]

The Unrealized PnL column will update during a current position for that instrument and will zero out after the position has closed.

The Realized PnL column will only update after the instrument position has been closed reflecting the total PnL for that instrument and account. This column will only zero out after the broker maintenance or the simulator reset.

[mikesmen40]

There is a third column called just "Profit/Loss"...What is the correct behavior for this in regards to my first post. thank you

[NinjaTrader_ChristopherJ]

I apologize for missing your question regarding the ProfitLoss column.

The ProfitLoss column will reflcet the overall Account total PnL real time while in a position and flat as apposed to only when flat as seen within the Realized PnL column.

[mikesmen40]

That explanation confuses me further. That sounds like you are referring to the total row, no?

If i buy, then sell 1 item. What will be in that cell of the PROFIT/LOSS column. Will the cell show my profit loss or will it be zero?

[NinjaTrader_Matthew]

Hello Mike,

In your example, it would show your Realized PnL for the day as reported from the Accounts tab of the Control Center for the account you have selected from the column parameters.

Please let me know if you need further clarification.