Futures and NinjaTrader guides
Contract values, order types, session settings, and how to read your own results. Start with the basics, or jump to the task in front of you.
No signals, no predictions, and nothing here is financial advice.
Using the Trade Lab? Export your NinjaTrader trades →Futures basics New to futures? Start here.
What a tick is actually worth
Tick size, tick value and point value are three numbers people use as one. Work out what one tick pays on the contract you trade.
Order types, and why your stop did not fill
Know which of your orders guarantee a price, which guarantee a fill, and which can leave you holding a losing trade.
Rollover and the front month
Know why there is more than one ES, when to move to the next one, and why your charts appear to gap when everybody leaves.
Trading hours and session templates
The trading day starts the evening before. Set your session template so VWAP, yesterday's high and every daily reset are right.
Risk and review
Position sizing against a drawdown limit
On an evaluation account the balance is not what ends you. Work out how much drawdown allowance you have left, and what size it permits.
How to read your performance report
Profit factor, expectancy, breakeven win rate and drawdown. What each one tells you, which can mislead, and what no summary can see.
NinjaTrader how-to
Looking for the arithmetic rather than the explanation? The calculators cover tick value, position size, expectancy and risk of ruin, and run in your browser.