ATM Copy for NinjaTrader 8 trade copying

ATM Copy lets each follower run your NinjaTrader ATM strategy on its own position, instead of copying the leader’s stop and target orders one by one. The follower’s stops and targets are sized for the follower’s own position, which makes Ratio and Pre Allocation much easier to trade.

Exits sized for each follower: NinjaTrader’s ATM strategy on the follower places the stops and targets for that follower’s quantity.
No exits without a position: the follower’s ATM strategy places its stop and target only after the follower’s own entry fills.
Your changes follow: when you move or cancel the leader’s ATM stop or target, the same change goes to the matching stop or target of each follower’s ATM strategy.
Local and remote followers: remote followers need an ATM strategy template with the same name on their computer.
Per follower: turn it on only for the followers you choose. It cannot be combined with Market Only on the same follower.

How it works

An ATM (Advanced Trade Management) strategy is a NinjaTrader template that places predefined stop loss and profit target orders once your entry fills. When you place the leader’s entry in NinjaTrader with an ATM strategy selected, Replikanto copies the entry to every follower with ATM Copy on and starts that same ATM strategy on the follower’s order. The leader’s stop and target orders are not copied to those followers: the follower’s own ATM strategy creates them. Other followers receive copies of the leader’s stop and target orders instead, except Market Only followers.

In the example below, Sim101 is the leader trading with an ATM strategy. Sim102 uses ATM Copy and Sim103 does not. In the Orders tab, the Strategy column shows that Sim102’s stop and target belong to its own ATM strategy, while Sim103 holds plain copies of the leader’s exit orders.

NinjaTrader charts and Orders tab: the leader Sim101 and the follower Sim102 each run their own MyWinATM strategy, while the follower Sim103 holds copies of the leader's stop and target — Sim102 (ATM Copy on) runs its own ATM strategy; Sim103 (ATM Copy off) copies the leader’s exit orders

With Ratio or Pre Allocation

With ATM Copy, NinjaTrader splits the follower’s quantity across the targets as your ATM template defines them, and any leftover quantity goes to the first target (a NinjaTrader rule). Without ATM Copy, Replikanto applies the copy method to each of the leader’s exit orders separately and rounds each one down to whole contracts, so a small exit can round down to zero and not be copied.

Take an ATM strategy (MyWinATM) with four targets of 1 contract each:

NinjaTrader ATM Strategy Parameters window for MyWinATM with four targets of 1 contract each — MyWinATM: four targets of 1 contract each

The leader buys 4 contracts and both followers use Ratio 0.5, so each follower buys 2. Sim102, with ATM Copy, gets its own two targets and two stops from its ATM strategy, matching its 2 contracts. Sim103, without ATM Copy, copies the leader’s exits: each one is 1 contract, which becomes 0.5 at Ratio 0.5 and rounds down to zero, so Sim103 is left with no exit orders.

Ratio 0.5 example: follower Sim102 with ATM Copy has two targets and two stops for its 2 contracts, follower Sim103 without ATM Copy has no exit orders — Ratio 0.5: Sim102 (ATM Copy) is protected, Sim103 has no exits

The same happens with Pre Allocation. Here both followers are pre-allocated 4 contracts and the leader trades 1, so the leader’s ATM strategy places a single target. Sim102’s ATM strategy spreads its 4 contracts across all four targets of the template, while Sim103 copies the leader’s single target and stop at 4 contracts.

Pre Allocation of 4 contracts: follower Sim102 with ATM Copy uses all four targets, follower Sim103 without ATM Copy has one target and one stop for 4 contracts — Pre Allocation 4: Sim102 (ATM Copy) uses all four targets

Moving and cancelling stops and targets

When you move or cancel the leader’s ATM stop or target, Replikanto applies the same change or cancel to the matching stop or target of each follower’s ATM strategy. Each follower’s ATM orders use their own OCO group, so a fill on one account does not cancel another account’s orders on the same broker connection.

When the leader does not use an ATM strategy

ATM Copy only acts on leader orders placed in NinjaTrader with an ATM strategy. Any other trade, including one that reaches the leader account from outside NinjaTrader such as TradingView, is copied as usual, with the leader’s exit orders copied to the followers. That is why you can leave ATM Copy on for followers that should use it whenever the leader does.

Remote followers

ATM Copy also works for followers on another computer, over your local network (Network Node Mode) or over the internet (Remote Node Mode). The follower computer starts its own saved ATM strategy template with the same name as the leader’s, so that template must exist there. Replikanto uses the follower computer’s copy of the template, so keep its targets and quantities the same as the leader’s: if they differ, moving or cancelling the leader’s stops and targets may not match the follower’s. A custom ATM strategy that is not saved as a template works for local followers only.

Leader Replikanto window with a follower computer added and turned on in the Replikanto Nodes list — Leader: a follower computer on the same local network, turned on in Replikanto Nodes

Follower computer's Replikanto window in Network Node Mode: follower Sim101 with Ratio 4 and ATM Copy turned on — Follower computer: Sim101 with Ratio 4 and ATM Copy on

The leader sent 1 contract. Because the follower computer has the MyWinATM template with the same name, Sim101 bought 4 contracts and its ATM strategy placed four targets and four stops:

Remote follower Sim101 long 4 contracts with four targets and four stops placed by its own MyWinATM strategy — Remote follower: 4 contracts managed by its own MyWinATM strategy

If the follower computer does not have a template with that name, the follower is copied as if ATM Copy were off: it receives the leader’s exit orders.

How to set it up

Right-click the Replikanto window (for example the left panel with Instrument and Leader Account) and make sure ATM Copy is checked. It is checked by default, shows the ATM Copy column for that tab and is saved with your workspace. When it is unchecked, the column is hidden and no follower on that tab uses ATM Copy.
In the Follower Accounts grid, click the triangle in the ATM Copy column of each follower that should run the leader’s ATM strategy. Green means on, grey means off. It is off for every follower until you turn it on.
If a triangle is dimmed and its tooltip says ATM is unavailable, Market Only is on for that follower: click its diamond in the Market Only column to turn it off first. A dimmed triangle can also mean the follower is in a trade and its settings are locked.
For followers on another computer, do the same in the Replikanto tab on that computer (Network Node Mode (Local Network) or Remote Node Mode (Internet)), and save the ATM strategy there as a template with exactly the same name as the leader’s.
Place the leader’s trade in NinjaTrader with the ATM strategy selected, and test it on Sim accounts first.

Replikanto right-click menu with the ATM Copy option checked — The ATM Copy option in the Replikanto right-click menu

Follower Accounts grid with the ATM Copy triangle green for follower Sim102 and grey for Sim103 — ATM Copy column: green triangle means on for that follower

Good to know

ATM Copy and Market Only cannot be combined on the same follower. Turn one off before turning the other on.
With Lock follower settings while in a trade on (the default), you cannot change a follower’s ATM Copy while it holds a position or a working order, and the ATM Copy menu option is locked while any follower on the tab is in a trade.
An ATM strategy applied from the Positions tab to a position that is already open is not copied: followers with ATM Copy on get no stop or target from it, and followers with ATM Copy off receive plain copies of its orders. Select the ATM strategy before you place the entry.
Remote followers need a saved ATM strategy template with the same name on their computer. A custom ATM strategy that is not saved as a template works for local followers only.
With ATM Copy, NinjaTrader decides how the follower’s quantity is split across the targets. Plan your template’s target quantities with the followers’ quantities in mind.
If your ATM template uses a Custom Stop Strategy, use a regular stop loss when copying at a ratio other than 1: the custom stop does not account for the follower’s scaled quantity.
The follower’s broker can still reject an order. With the matching options turned on, Follower Guard can flatten and disarm a follower when that happens or when it gets out of sync.

Questions? Browse the Replikanto Knowledge Center or contact us. New to Replikanto? Try it free for 7 days.

ATM Copy: run your ATM strategy on your followers