Line Break Chart Question

[SunCity]

Hello,

I am trying to develop a trading strategy using the Line Break Chart using a 1 Tick interval on the ES, NQ and YM charts. I have noticed that the tick bars on the ES charts are always consistently equal to 0.25 points each which I would expect. However, for the NQ and YM charts the tick bars are sometimes 0.25 point each but sometimes they are 0.5 points each or 0.75 points or higher. I assume this is because of higher volatility in these instruments. As a practical matter- if an automated trade set up was to trigger at exactly the time a bar is greater than 0.25 point would this mean the bid ask spread for this trade would theoretically correspond with whatever these individual tick bars are? Reason I ask is I am trying to get an estimate of my profit and loss per trade including the did ask spread. It is hard to explain without having a picture of a chart to visualize- I can take a snippet of a chart to send if it would help.

Thank you,
Chris

[NinjaTrader_Emily]

Hello Chris,

Thank you for your note.

So I may better understand, please provide a screenshot of the chart as well as the data series settings for the chart (right-click the chart > select Data Series).

• To send a screenshot with Windows 10 or newer I would recommend using the Windows Snipping Tool.
  • Click here for instructions
• Alternatively to send a screenshot press Alt + PRINT SCREEN to take a screenshot of the selected window. Then go to Start--> Accessories--> Paint, and press CTRL + V to paste the image. Lastly, save it as a jpeg file and send the file as an attachment.
  • Click here for detailed instruction

Thanks in advance; I look forward to your reply.

[SunCity]

Thank you for the quick response, Emily.

The bulletin board would not allow two screenshots to be uploaded into a single reply so I will send two separate replies that will follow this one: 1) The ES chart that shows each tick bar = 0.25 points; and 2) the NQ chart that shows various sizes for the ticks (i.e., 0.25 point for some ticks, 0.50-1.00 points for other ticks, etc.).

Chris

[SunCity]

Attached is the ES chart that shows each tick bar = 0.25 points. This is consistent over 3+ years of data-

[SunCity]

Attached is the NQ chart that shows various sizes for some of the ticks (i.e., 0.25 point for some ticks, 0.50-1.00 points for other ticks, etc.).

[NinjaTrader_Emily]

Hello Chris,

Thank you for your reply.

With the way that Line Break bars function, for a new bar to be formed the price must go above or below the high/low of a specific number of prior bars. In this case, you have line breaks set to 40. The price must go above or below the high/low of the last 40 bars to form a new bar. For more information about Line Break bars:

https://ninjatrader.com/support/helpGuides/nt8/index.html?bar_types.htm#UnderstandingLineBreakBars

Additionally, as a side note, having your charts set to 3000 days to load could lead to high resource usage. If you do not plan to scroll through and evaluate all 3000 days, I recommend reducing the number of days to load to the minimum amount of data needed so you may free up resources on your PC.

For additional performance tips:

https://ninjatrader.com/support/helpGuides/nt8/performance_tips2.htm

Please let us know if we may be of further assistance.

[SunCity]

HI Emily,

I am afraid I did not ask the question clearly.

If I set the line break chart to one tick as is shown on both charts I uploaded- wouldn't one tick equal to 0.25 points? This is the case with the ES chart. So, for instance if you look at each tick on the ES chart between the price 3903.00 and 3899.00 they are all the same size of 0.25 points which equals one tick. However- with the NQ chart if you look at the ticks after the line break when price is falling starting at 11870.00 down to 11854.00- each tick does not equal 0.25 points- some are larger than 0.25 points which what I do not understand. If the chart is set at one tick increments shouldn't each tick on the chart =0.25 point?

Thank you,
Chris

[NinjaTrader_Emily]

Hello Chris,

Thank you for your reply.

I am not sure that I am understanding you. Are you referring to some bars being a different size than other bars? Although you have the "Base period type" and "Base period value" set to 1 tick, these settings do not determine the size of a bar; if you change the "Line breaks" to different values, the size of the bars on your chart will vary due to how Line Break charts are calculated. For the NQ instrument, a tick size is .25 points. This may be confirmed by going to Control Center > Tools > Instruments and then searching for NQ. When pull up the instrument settings, a tick size is .25. The bars on the chart may be more than one tick depending on the Line breaks involved.

I appreciate your time and patience.