The RD3 Trading System Quick Start

AutomaticTradingSignals.com

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The RD3 Trading System

Licensing
Before you install the system make sure you have been provided your NinjaTrader 3rd Party Licensing
Key to [email protected].

On the NinjaTrader Control Center window select Help -> 3rd Party Licensing.

Fill out the 3rd Party Licensing information as follows substituting your name for “YourName”:

Press Submit. Copy and paste the generated key and send it to [email protected].

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Installing
Copy the workspace files to your Documents\NinjaTrader 8\workspaces folder.
Copy the MarketAnalyzer files to your Documents\NinjaTrader 8\MarketAnalyzer folder.

RESTART NinjaTrader.

Import the trading system: Go to the NinjaTrader Control Center window menu Tools -> Import ->
NinjaScript Add-On…

Use the open file dialog to navigate to where you saved the AtsRD3_[version].zip file to your computer.
Select it. NinjaTrader will import the system. If you receive any errors during the import then email the
logs to [email protected]. The log files are in Documents\NinjaTrader 8\log. Make
sure you send the current log.

After you install without errors you’ll be able to open the workspaces.

Setup
The workspaces have been configured with all indicators. Some indicators are intentionally switched off
( their Visible property is unchecked ). In most cases you’ll not want to run all the indicators all the time.
Some of them are useful only for double checking or previewing what might be coming up.

The strategies have NOT been inserted yet. NinjaTrader has a habit of removing strategies from charts
sometimes and consequently we have left the task of inserting them to you. We explain how in this
guide.

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Setup ES / MES swing and day trading charts
Open the workspace ATS RD3 Indexes.

Locate the chart with 3 tabs “RD3”, “RD3hp” and “RD3hp”:

Go to the RD3 tab and press CTRL+S to open the strategies dialog box:

Select the AtsRD3 strategy. Click the add text at the bottom
left. An instance of the strategy is now available for you to
configure. Use the properties on the right side to select the
account you want to run the strategy on.

If you don’t see

your live account
in the section
“Setup”, Account
then you may have
the Control Center
Window menu
Tools -> Global
Simulation Mode
checked.

You can press Ok to close the dialog. The strategy will now appear in the Control Center Window in the
Strategies tab. You can enable and disable it from there. (A screen shot of this is shown at the end of this
section.)

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Do the same for the other strategies and match as follows:

Strategy Name Chart Tab Name

AtsRD3 RD3
AtsRD3hp RD3hp
AtsRD3_240m RD3_240m
AtsRD3_3Min 3Min
AtsRD3_5Min 5Min
AtsRD3_10Min 10Min

The strategies shown as running in the NinjaTrader Control Center window. Here you can see the Data
series matched up with the strategy name. The standard AtsRD3 and AtsRD3hp run on the 1440 minute
bars, CME US Stock Index Futures ETH. The AtsRD3_240Min strategy runs on the 240 minute CME US
Stock Index Futures ETH. The AtsRD3_3Min, _5_Min and _10Min run on their corresponding 3, 5, and 10
minute charts BUT the session template is CME US Stock Index Futures RTH. A very important
distinction.

The workspace also contains Strategy Analyzer windows already setup for you to backtest each strategy.

Other Strategies
AtsRD3Target

This strategy manages live orders that exit the market when the target price level is reached. It’s derived
from AtsRD3hp and otherwise follows that strategy’s configuration.

AtsRD3Limit
This strategy enters the market with a calculated limit order price. It forms the basis for several other
strategies but it can be used separately for your experimentation.

AtsRD3Night
Combines the AtsRD3hp and AtsRD3_240m to let you test what happens if you allow a 240 minute
strategy to interrupt the AtsRD3 or AtsRD3hp strategy.

AtsRD3Day
Combines the AtsRD3_3Min, _5Min and 10Min to let you see the results of running all 3 day trading
systems together. You can allow all the systems to place all their orders ( CompositeMode = All ) or limit
the system to only trade the system that signals 1st ( CompositeMode = Exclusive ).

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Indicators
Right click any chart and choose the “Indicators…” menu item to open the Indicators dialog box ( Ctrl + I
also opens it ).

Wow! That’s a lot of indicators! Don’t worry they can be

categorized.

There’s a set of indicators for each time frame that they system
trades on:

1440 minute bars ( there are 1440 minutes in a day )

240 minute bars ( 4 hour bars )
10 minute bars ( day trading )
5 minute bars ( day trading )
3 minute bars (day trading )

The most important indicators are the:

AtsRD3, AtsRD3hp, AtsRD3_240Min, AtsRD3_10Min,
AtsRD3_5Min and AtsRD3_3Min.
The names tell you what kind of chart to put them on, almost!

Here’s more exactly:

Indicator Name Bar Type Trading Hours ( Session Template )
AtsRD3 1440 Minute CME US Index Futures ETH
AtsRD3hp 1440 Minute CME US Index Futures ETH
AtsRD3_240Min 1440 Minute CME US Index Futures ETH
AtsRD3_10Min 10 Minute CME US Index Futures RTH
AtsRD3_5Min 5 Minute CME US Index Futures RTH
AtsRD3_3Min 3 Minute CME US Index Futures RTH

The AtsRD3stock can be traded on standard “Daily” charts. The

AtsRD3target indicator is used internally by a strategy of the same
name and is not generally used independently but you can put it
on a 1440 Minute CME US Index Futures ETH chart as well.

All of these indicators are the “overlay” indicators that paint

directly on your bar chart ( no sub panel ). They have everything
you need to trade manually. The automated strategies use these
internally to decide when to trade.

The rest of the indicators contain subsets of the trading logic and
paint various indications to help you visualize and understand
what’s going on in the system.

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Supporting Indicators
These indicators help you understand what’s happening inside the full system.

The supporting indicator names follow a naming convention that lets you know what kind of chart/time
frame they’re designed for. We have _3Min, _5Min, _10Min versions as well as the standard, hp and
stock versions of each. The standard versions have no suffix so for example, AtsRD3Cross goes on charts
with the AtsRD3 indicator. The AtsRD3CrossHP goes on charts with the AtsRD3hp indicator.

AtsRD3Cross

These run in a sub panel and help you visualize when the RD3 is
thinking about entering its Staged state AND when it actually
becomes staged. A green or red bar without a dot at the end means
it’s thinking about staging. The dot means it’s staged.

AtsRD3EntryBands

These bands let you preview the price levels for LE1Trigger, LE2Trigger, SE1Trigger and SE2Trigger. The
trigger levels are price levels that price must close beyond in order to trigger an order to be placed.
Normally we don’t want all these squiggly lines so we leave it off most of the time.

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AtsRD3Bands

These could have been named AtsRD3ExitBands ( but

they’re not! ). These bands show the price level that must
be closed beyond in order to trigger a market order to exit
the position:

In this image you also see the target line in red. This line is
painted by the AtsRD3 indicator. The value of having the
line painted there is that we don’t need to run the
AtsRD3Bands all the time to see where the system wants
to exit.

Calculation Modes
This is a good time to go over OnPriceChange and OnBarClose calculation modes. You’ll notice in the
screen shot of the AtsRD3Bands that the target line is not matching up with the current value of the
upper band. The last bar on the chart has not closed yet. It’s still forming as data comes in. The bands
are running in calculation mode OnPriceChange so the value of the band is updated as this most recent
bar is forming. The discrepancy is because the indicator painting the target line is running in a different
calculation mode: OnBarClose. This discrepancy can be resolved. You have choices that each have pros
and cons.

The AtsRD3 indicator paints the target line and in this example the
AtsRD3 indicator is running calculation mode OnBarClose. The most
recent value is the last bar that closed. The final value of the band
when the bar closes is the value used for the target which is the
target value used by the strategies. Thus in this example, the
current target is actually 3123.75 and it’s likely to continue changing
until that bar closes. When the bar closes the indicator will paint
move the target line to the new price of the band. If the bar closes
above that price then an exit signal is raised.

It’s possible to run the AtsRD3 indicators with Calculate = On price

change. If you do then the target line will appear matched with
the band.

It’s also possible to run the strategies with Calculate = On price

change. (The strategies are coded to only send orders if the
incoming tick is the first tick of a new bar.) You can choose to let
the strategy add the indicator to the chart. (See image at left). If
the strategy is running Calculate = On price change then the target
line will match with the band indicator because they’re both running with Calculate On price change.

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Summary the pros and cons of the different calculation modes. (Note that the indicators added
internally by the strategy must have the same calculation mode as the strategy itself. That’s why they
share a column in the table.)

Calculation Calculation Strategy Pros Cons

mode for mode for calculation
Indicators Indicators mode.
added to added by the
charts strategy and
separately displayed
from the with
strategies ShowRD3
ShowBands
Calculate = On Calculate = On bar close The live strategy Can not see the most
bar close automation results will recent price levels for
match backtest results trigger lines and targets
well. until the bar closes.

Calculate = On Calculate = On bar close You’ll see the most recent In some rare
price change values for price levels and circumstances the
targets so that you’ll indicators running On
better anticipate what’s price change will not
going to happen. agree with their
The live strategy counterparts running
automation results will On bar close internally
match backtest results in the strategies. This
well. may be disconcerting to
some but the strategy
running with On bar
close should be the final
decision maker as to
what’s right.
Calculate = On Calculate = On price change For indicators added by For indicators added to
bar close the strategy internally charts separately from
using the strategy settings the strategies with the
ShowRD3 and On bar close: Can not
ShowBands: you’ll see the see the most recent
latest calculations. price levels for trigger
lines and targets until
the bar closes.

Calculate = On Calculate = On price change No need to add the While still good results,
price change indicators to the chart not the best match
separately. You’ll get the between live strategy
latest calculations from automation and
the ShowRD3 and strategy backtest.
ShowBands indicators
added by the strategy.

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We recommend running the strategies with Calculate = On bar close. The AtsRD3 is a two stage system.
It maintains state as to whether or not it’s in the 1st stage. If the logic is run on every incoming tick there
are conditions that go back and forth and it’s possible that it could end the bar in a condition that differs
from what it would be if run On bar close. We did extensive testing to try to maintain the state but in
the end we could not eliminate every difference. The trading results are a little bit different when
comparing the two instances of the same strategy, one running On bar close and another running On
price change. Still good results with On price change, but different. We have much deeper historical
reference for backtesting with On bar close. We recommend using On bar close because of the deep
back test history and the simplicity of the logic flow as compared with On price change. This is the
default setting.

The choices for what indicators to show are personal. We find it helpful to allow the strategies to show
the AtsRD3 ( ShowRD3 parameter ) so that we have a visual of what the strategy was thinking on the last
bar. Then if we want to drill down to see the most recent target level we can add the AtsRD3Bands
indicator separately to the chart running with Calculate = On price change. If we want to see the most
recent trigger level for entries we can do the same by adding the AtsRD3 indicator to the chart running
with Calculate = On price change. For the later it’s best to switch off the ShowRD3 option to avoid
confusion that can arise from many lines. Or you can change the colors for one of them so you’ll know
which is which.

Another option is to leave the ShowRD3 setting off in the strategy and always keep the AtsRD3 indicator
that corresponds to it on the chart running On price change. We setup the workspaces with the
indicators loaded already with this idea in mind.

AtsRD3Oscillator

The AtsRD3Osciallator can be seen here as the red line in

the sub-graph. This indicator actually is a supporting
indicator for the AtsRD3Bands indicator. We rarely will
use this indicator as the bands do a much better job of
telling where the market will exit.

Market Analyzer Indicators

The AtsRD3MA_xxx set of indicators are used for the Market Analyzer window. Configuring them is
complex and that’s why we included the Market Analyzer window in the workspace already configured
as well as Market Analyzer templates so you can setup a Market Analyzer in your own workspace simply
by loading the template there. To load a Market Analyzer template right click on the Market Analyzer
window and select Templates -> Load from the menu. Use the AtsRD3 template for stock index futures
and AtsRD3 Stock for stocks.

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Setup the Stock trading charts
Open the workspace ATS RD3 Stock.

In the same way you added the strategies before, press Ctrl+S to open the strategies dialog on the chart
locate the AtsRD3stock strategy and insert it.

Emailing and Alerting

The full user manual explains how to setup the emailing and alerting.

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HYPOTHETICAL PERFORMANCE RESULTS HAVE MANY INHERENT LIMITATIONS, SOME OF WHICH ARE DESCRIBED BELOW. NO REPRESENTATION IS BEING MADE THAT ANY ACCOUNT WILL
OR IS LIKELY TO ACHIEVE PROFITS OR LOSSES SIMILAR TO THOSE SHOWN; IN FACT, THERE ARE FREQUENTLY SHARP DIFFERENCES BETWEEN HYPOTHETICAL PERFORMANCE RESULTS
AND THE ACTUAL RESULTS SUBSEQUENTLY ACHIEVED BY ANY PARTICULAR TRADING PROGRAM. ONE OF THE LIMITATIONS OF HYPOTHETICAL PERFORMANCE RESULTS IS THAT THEY ARE
GENERALLY PREPARED WITH THE BENEFIT OF HINDSIGHT. IN ADDITION, HYPOTHETICAL TRADING DOES NOT INVOLVE FINANCIAL RISK, AND NO HYPOTHETICAL TRADING RECORD CAN
COMPLETELY ACCOUNT FOR THE IMPACT OF FINANCIAL RISK OF ACTUAL TRADING. FOR EXAMPLE, THE ABILITY TO WITHSTAND LOSSES OR TO ADHERE TO A PARTICULAR TRADING
PROGRAM IN SPITE OF TRADING LOSSES ARE MATERIAL POINTS WHICH CAN ALSO ADVERSELY AFFECT ACTUAL TRADING RESULTS. THERE ARE NUMEROUS OTHER FACTORS RELATED TO
THE MARKETS IN GENERAL OR TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ANY SPECIFIC TRADING PROGRAM WHICH CANNOT BE FULLY ACCOUNTED FOR IN THE PREPARATION OF HYPOTHETICAL
PERFORMANCE RESULTS AND ALL WHICH CAN ADVERSELY AFFECT TRADING RESULTS.

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