Position.AveragePrice Error on First Entry

[EC_Chris]

I have a very simple code to buy if a certain price pattern occurs. This strategy continues to buy each time the logic is true.

The profit target is a function of what my average entry price is. The problem I am having is Ninja is not reading my average entry price correctly on the first trade, and then it messes up the trades thereafter

I get a log error that states "Calculated target order price was smaller/equal 0. No target order placed",

It seems to me, if there is only 1 entry made, ninjatrader's average price is not working correctly.

Below is the code, and a picture of the chart. You can clear see in the chart the entry price and target don't print until the second trade, when they should start printing on the first. And you will see that the issue causes a problem on the second trade.

Thanks.

if (Close[6]<Close[7]
&& Close[5]<Close[6]
&& Close[4]<Close[5]
&& Close[3]<Close[4]
&& Close[2]<Close[3]
&& Close[1]>Close[2]
&& Close[0]>Close[1]
&& (BarsSinceExitExecution() >= 1 || BarsSinceExitExecution() == -1))



{
EnterLong(0,DefaultQuantity, "Long");
longOrderBar = CurrentBars[0];
pftpcnt = 25/100;

averagePrice = Position.AveragePrice;
takeProfit = (Position.AveragePrice+Position.AveragePrice/100*pftpcnt);

SetProfitTarget("Long", CalculationMode.Price,takeProfit,true);
Draw.Line(this,"averagePrice"+ CurrentBars[0].ToString(),false,0,averagePrice,-15,averagePrice,Brushes.Green,DashStyleHelper.Dash ,1);
Draw.Line(this,"takeProfit"+ CurrentBars[0].ToString(),false,0,takeProfit,-15,takeProfit,Brushes.Red,DashStyleHelper.Dash,1);


}

[NinjaTrader_Jim]

Hello EC_Chris,

Thanks for opening the thread.

It is generally advised to reset the Profit Target when it is in a flat position and then to update the Profit Target with SetProfitTarget() once you see that the order has been placed and you are in a position.

From the help guide:

Should you call this method to dynamically change the target price in the strategy OnBarUpdate() method, you should always reset the target price / offset value when your strategy is flat otherwise, the last price/offset value set will be used to generate your profit target order on your next open position

At the time you call EnterLong(), it is not guaranteed that the order is filled at that exact moment. This would also mean that Position.AveragePrice would not be guaranteed until the order gets filled.

As a solution, you could reset your Profit Target when in a flat position, and then when you are no longer in a flat position, you can update the profit target.

Position.MarketPosition can be used to tell if you are long, short, or flat, and you can use BarsSinceEntryExecution() with signal name of your entry order to detect if you are in a position. Order objects may be used as well to track fill prices for orders to be used later in the strategy.

I have provided links to our publicly available documentation on the subjects above.

Position.MarketPosition - https://ninjatrader.com/support/help...etposition.htm

BarsSinceEntryExecution() - https://ninjatrader.com/support/help...yexecution.htm

Order objects - https://ninjatrader.com/support/help...n-us/order.htm

Another solution would be to create your own Profit Target and Stop Loss using orders submitted in OnExecutionUpdate(), so you can use the AverageFillPrice of the Order object that just filled. The SampleOnOrderUpdate() strategy provides a good demonstration on how to do this.

SampleOnOrderUpdate strategy - https://ninjatrader.com/support/foru...ead.php?t=7499

If there is anything else I can do to help out, please let me know.