yet another strange error message

[Tasuki]

Every time I turn around, another error message. Please see attached. This one is on ZM, soybean meal, but I've seen it on SB and elsewhere. Clearly, my chart is set for the Dec contract, and yet I see "Error on loading chart data for ZM 11-13 Globex...." as if I were trying to trade a November contract (not sure there even IS a Nov contract for ZM). Why am I getting this error, what does it mean, and how to avoid getting it again?
Thanks, as always,
Tasuki
p.s. could it be that NT just doesn't like having something like 20 workspaces open at once? This is all EOD data, so it shouldn't be taxing the computer very much, but I notice that, every time I talk to the techs at NT they always express surprise that I look at so many contracts in the evening. Why not, I ask? You never know when you'll see a golden trading opportunity. Anyway, could this be a problem, that I've got lots of workspaces open? Is NT just not built for it?

[NinjaTrader_Kyle]

Hello,

Thank you for your post.

This error does not relate to the number of workspaces which you are using. Based on what I see here, this relates to some contracts like 11-13 being called for when they should not be.

You'd mentioned seeing the same error with SB and other instruments. Could you please list the other instruments as well? This is something which I would need to work with our development team to resolve in full and I'd like to present as complete a picture as possible to them so that we can square away these items quickly.

[Tasuki]

Hello,

Thank you for your post.

This error does not relate to the number of workspaces which you are using. Based on what I see here, this relates to some contracts like 11-13 being called for when they should not be.

You'd mentioned seeing the same error with SB and other instruments. Could you please list the other instruments as well? This is something which I would need to work with our development team to resolve in full and I'd like to present as complete a picture as possible to them so that we can square away these items quickly.

Hi Kyle,
See attached files. Seems to be happening only on SB, ZM and ZL. God knows why. As I think you know, I keep alot of workspaces open for nightly study, and so far, only these three contracts have screwed up with this most unusual error message. Please fix if you can! (and please hurry with that new, updated version of NT. Lord knows we need it!.) I'm getting dizzy with all these error messages (see recent past posts). Thanks for your help!
Tasuki

[Harry]

NinjaTrader auto-inserts non-existant contracts

I am writing this post, because I want to point to one of the design problems of NinjaTrader 7. This problem relates to the way instrument master data is handled.

(1) NinjaTrader sometimes adds false contracts (auto downloaded from NinjaTrader servers) to the instrument master data. The contract ZM 11-13 does not exist, and I have also found it now although I had already switched to ZM 12-13. This means that it has been added recently.

(2) NinjaTrader adds lower liquidity contracts and I cannot remove them. For example for ZM the contract months August, September and October are less liquid than December starting from mid-June. Therefore I only use the months January, March, May, July and December. Whenever I delete the three contracts August to October NinjaTrader reinserts them. The only solution is to maintain these contracts, select the same rollover date as for December and set all the offsets to zero.

(3) For many contracts, only the rollover dates, but not the offsets are maintained on NinjaTrader servers. If I use the preset rollover dates and enter my own offsets, NinjaTrader will override these offsets with the next application start and set them to zero (because the zero values - offsets not available - will be auto-downloaded from the NinjaTrader server and written to the instrument data). The only way to get correct offsets is NOT to use the preset rollover dates, because in that case NinjaTrader allows me to keep my own offsets.

I am just writing this to point again to this problem. I am fine, if I have to maintain my own rollover dates and offsets. But as a customer I am miserable, if NinjaTrader

- auto-inserts false contracts from time to time
- does not allow me to remove contracts and forces me to use contracts with a lesser liquidity
- overrides my correct offsets with zero values

I have used the workarounds as described for each case. But I hope that NinjaTrader 8 will allow me to set up the contracts in a simple and effective way as needed.

[Tasuki]

I am writing this post, because I want to point to one of the design problems of NinjaTrader 7. This problem relates to the way instrument master data is handled.

(1) NinjaTrader sometimes adds false contracts (auto downloaded from NinjaTrader servers) to the instrument master data. The contract ZM 11-13 does not exist, and I have also found it now although I had already switched to ZM 12-13. This means that it has been added recently.

(2) NinjaTrader adds lower liquidity contracts and I cannot remove them. For example for ZM the contract months August, September and October are less liquid than December starting from mid-June. Therefore I only use the months January, March, May, July and December. Whenever I delete the three contracts August to October NinjaTrader reinserts them. The only solution is to maintain these contracts, select the same rollover date as for December and set all the offsets to zero.

(3) For many contracts, only the rollover dates, but not the offsets are maintained on NinjaTrader servers. If I use the preset rollover dates and enter my own offsets, NinjaTrader will override these offsets with the next application start and set them to zero (because the zero values - offsets not available - will be auto-downloaded from the NinjaTrader server and written to the instrument data). The only way to get correct offsets is NOT to use the preset rollover dates, because in that case NinjaTrader allows me to keep my own offsets.

I am just writing this to point again to this problem. I am fine, if I have to maintain my own rollover dates and offsets. But as a customer I am miserable, if NinjaTrader

- auto-inserts false contracts from time to time
- does not allow me to remove contracts and forces me to use contracts with a lesser liquidity
- overrides my correct offsets with zero values

I have used the workarounds as described for each case. But I hope that NinjaTrader 8 will allow me to set up the contracts in a simple and effective way as needed.

Harry, Hats off to you! I had no idea the problem was so complex. I'm not sure I could even figure out what these "offsets" are all about, but it's pretty clear that the folks who write the code for NT had better roll up their sleeves and get to work, because this is a mess. I mean, adding false contracts? What's up with that? Come on NT, get your act together!!!!!!!!!

[Harry]

Harry, Hats off to you! I had no idea the problem was so complex. I'm not sure I could even figure out what these "offsets" are all about, but it's pretty clear that the folks who write the code for NT had better roll up their sleeves and get to work, because this is a mess. I mean, adding false contracts? What's up with that? Come on NT, get your act together!!!!!!!!!

Offsets are rollover offsets needed for backadjusting continuous contracts. As you said, the subject is complex. I would not say that it is a mess, I was just going into details. If there are false contracts from time to time, it is not a question of the code but of the maintenance process for the master data (adding new contracts), which is probably done manually.

[Tasuki]

To Kyle or anyone who knows,
So, the next question is, how do I get rid of those annoying error messages which pop up every bloody time I log in (see my post from 11-08-2013)? They've worn out their welcome. I'm not using those false contracts, the 11-13 ones that the error messages say that NT can't find. These contracts don't exist, OK, we get it, now could someone please tell me how to turn off the error messages?
Thanks, Tasuki

[NinjaTrader_Kyle]

Hello Tasuki.,

Unfortunately, no error message can be fully disabled. This is something we have heard a demand for and as a result development is considering adding this type of option in the future. I will forward your support for the addition of the ability to dismiss these errors as a whole on to our development staff for further consideration.

[Harry]

To Kyle or anyone who knows,
So, the next question is, how do I get rid of those annoying error messages which pop up every bloody time I log in (see my post from 11-08-2013)? They've worn out their welcome. I'm not using those false contracts, the 11-13 ones that the error messages say that NT can't find. These contracts don't exist, OK, we get it, now could someone please tell me how to turn off the error messages?
Thanks, Tasuki

If you open a merged backadjusted chart (default setting, the chart is built from several contracts with the rollover gaps eliminated), then NinjaTrader builds it from single month contracts as specified under instrument settings. All you need to do is to open the instrument manager, then select and edit the instrument -> Misc and scroll down to contract months, cllick into the field which reads "XX contract month defined" (last field) and open the contract months menu.

Now you have to delete the offensive November contract and then manually select the correct rollover dates for all other contracts. NinjaTrader will then compute the rollover offsets from daily data as is needed to display your charts correctly.