Order Sets

An order set defines the entry, profit target and stop-loss orders for part of a trade. When an order set has both a profit target and a stop-loss, they are always linked as an OCO (One-Cancels-Other) pair: when one fills, the other is canceled. The cancellation is handled by your broker, not by BlackBird or NinjaTrader.

You can create several order sets; they are named A, B, C and so on. Unlike a NinjaTrader ATM, each order set can have its own entry order type and price (for Limit and Stop entries), so you can average into a position or build a breakout entry, mixing entry types however you like.

A common reason for several order sets is scaling out. For example, with 5 contracts you might lock in 2 at 1 point of profit and let the other 3 run: order set A has 2 contracts with a 1 point profit target, and order set B has 3 contracts with a 10 point target, or none at all. This is the same as setting up a NinjaTrader ATM.

Order set components

1. Name, order management options and quantity (contracts, lots or shares).
2. The entry order.
3. The profit target order.
4. The stop-loss order.

Order management options

Controls for the quantity, plus safeguards and constraints for automated trading. Set the quantity in the blue area. To rename the order set, click its name and change the Name field.

Quantity scaling

Lets BlackBird adjust the quantity of each order set to match Money Management » Risk Per Trade. Ignored when Risk Per Trade is off.

Setting	What it does
Allow Upscaling	Lets BlackBird add contracts, up to the Risk Per Trade amount.
Allow Downscaling	Lets BlackBird remove contracts, to stay within the Risk Per Trade amount.
Keep Quantity Ratio	With several order sets, how strictly the ratio of contracts between them is kept. Exact keeps it strictly; Flexible lets it shift to get closer to Risk Per Trade.

Upscaling and downscaling in detail

Control	What it does
Slider	Only matters with several order sets. How readily BlackBird changes this order set’s quantity: None never changes it, Flexible changes this order set first, Balanced is in between.
Acceptable Variance	The most contracts that can be added (upscaling) or removed (downscaling). With the default of 10: a quantity of 4 can upscale to 14; a quantity of 12 can downscale to 2.

Example: three profit targets. The first is a quick target a couple of ticks away with the most contracts, the second is a middle target with fewer, and the third is the farthest with the fewest.

Order set	Upscaling slider	Downscaling slider
1st target (most contracts)	Flexible	Just right of None
2nd target	Balanced	Balanced
3rd target (fewest contracts)	Just right of None	Flexible

Keep Quantity Ratio example: order sets with 3, 1 and 1 contracts. With all three set to Exact, the quantities grow 6-2-2, 9-3-3, 12-4-4 and so on, as long as Risk Per Trade isn’t exceeded. Set the first order set to Flexible to let its quantity change more easily to get the most out of Risk Per Trade.

Placement safeguards

Keep the profit target and stop-loss (the exit orders) within a minimum and maximum distance of the entry price. They matter most when an indicator sets an order’s price, since it could put an order too close or too far away. They also help discretionary traders who drag the stop-loss or target to support and resistance in Dynamic Planning before entering.

Setting	What it does
Mode	What happens when an exit order’s initial placement breaks a Min/Max rule below. Skip Trade: the entry order is skipped and never sent to your broker. Other order sets are not affected. Constrain Target & Stop Loss: the exit order is placed at the limit instead.
Enforce Max Constraints After Placement	Only with Constrain Target & Stop Loss. Mode only applies to initial placement; this also stops a Trailing Action from moving an exit order beyond the Max distances later.
Min Profit Target Distance	Skip Trade only. Skips the entry if the profit target would be closer than this many ticks. For example, set to 10, a target 9 ticks away skips the trade.
Max Profit Target Distance	Skip Trade: skips the entry if the target would be farther than this many ticks (set to 40, a target 41 ticks away skips the trade). Constrain: places the target no farther than this (a target 45 ticks away is placed at 40).
Min Stop Loss Distance	Skip Trade only. Skips the entry if the stop-loss would be closer than this many ticks. For example, set to 12, a stop 11 ticks away skips the trade.
Max Stop Loss Distance	Skip Trade: skips the entry if the stop-loss would be farther than this many ticks (set to 20, a stop 24 ticks away skips the trade). Constrain: places the stop no farther than this (a stop 24 ticks away is placed at 20).

Entry order

Start an order set by choosing the entry order type: Market, Limit or Stop (the types NinjaTrader supports). For the Automatic order type, see Enable Automatic Order Type.

Profit target order

Next, set up the profit target, always a Limit order. For a “runner” (no profit target, just a trailing stop-loss), leave it blank.

Stop-loss order

Last, set up the stop-loss: a Stop Market or Stop Limit order.

Exit order submission sequence

Since version 8.3.2.38, BlackBird sends the profit target to NinjaTrader first and the stop-loss immediately after.

Why the order changed

Earlier versions sent the stop-loss first, since it is good practice to send the protective order first. But on the Sim101 account, NinjaTrader 8 sometimes reported a false “duplicate OCO ID” error: when the stop-loss filled or was rejected instantly, before the profit target had finished processing, the Sim account failed to recognize the target as part of the same OCO pair. Sending the profit target first avoids it.

Order Options tab

Click any order in an order set to open its Options window, where you set up the order.

Entry order options

Setting	What it does
Name	A custom name for the order, shown in the Control Center’s Orders and Log tabs. Handy with several order sets or several BlackBirds. Leave blank for the default name.
Color	The color of the order’s flag on the chart.
Type	Changes the entry order type after the order has been added.

Enable Automatic Order Type

Limit and Stop entries only. Lets BlackBird choose Limit or Stop automatically, which is mainly useful when an indicator sets the entry price. Some indicators give an entry price that could be above or below the market. For a long trade, BlackBird sends a Limit order if the price is below the market and a Stop order if it is above.

Limit Offset from Stop Price

Stop Limit entries only. The distance between the stop price and the limit price. Don’t use negative values. NinjaTrader explains how it works: How can I learn more about Stop Limit orders?.

Initial Placement

The price a Limit or Stop entry is placed at when it is first sent. Not used for Market orders. The menu has two parts: the top sets a price and the bottom adds an offset. See Select Input window.

Place

Entry orders only; not yet used by Dynamic Planning. Attaches a condition to the entry order. If the condition is already true, the order is sent immediately. If not, it waits in a pending state until the condition is met, then it is sent. It also makes it easy to scale in with the Trade Signal Trigger when trading automatically.

Pair it with Cancel (below), or a pending entry stays pending until the trade direction reverses. The conditions are the same trigger conditions used by Trailing Actions.

Example: a MACD filter

Use the Indicator Value condition to allow longs only while the MACD is above zero and shorts only while it’s below. A long signal with the MACD above zero is sent immediately. With the MACD below zero, the long order waits as pending until the MACD crosses above zero, when it’s sent, or until a short signal arrives first, which cancels the pending long and sends the short.

Cancel

Limit and Stop entries only. Ways to cancel a working entry order (one that has been accepted at the exchange) if it doesn’t fill. A pending order can’t be canceled until it becomes a working order.

Exit order options

Setting	What it does
Name	A custom name for the profit target or stop-loss, shown in the Control Center’s Orders and Log tabs. Leave blank for the default name.
Color	The color of the order’s flag on the chart.
Type	Stop-losses only: the type of stop order. Profit targets are always Limit orders.
Use Risk Reward Ratio	Sets this order’s distance as a multiple of the other exit order’s distance. Can be on for the profit target or the stop-loss, not both. See the examples below.
Initial Placement	Where the order is placed when first sent: how far from the entry price, or at what price via an indicator. The top of the menu sets a price, the bottom an offset.

Use Risk Reward Ratio examples

1. Profit target ratio 3, stop-loss at 2 × ATR: BlackBird works out the 2 × ATR stop distance, then places the target 3 times that distance away.

2. Stop-loss ratio 0.5, profit target at Swing Highs & Lows » Widest Tops: BlackBird works out the distance to the swing high, then places the stop at half that distance (at the swing low for a short).

Trailing Actions tab

Trailing Actions set BlackBird apart: rules that move orders automatically, in any direction. Each rule runs in three steps: it waits for its Trigger On condition, its Action moves the order, and Repeat decides how long and how often the rule keeps running. Trailing Actions work on entry orders and profit targets as well as stop-losses.

Setting	What it does
Mode	No Movement (default): trailing rules are off, except rules whose Action is Cancel Order, which always run (this is how Cancel works). Custom: use your own trailing rules. Standard Trailing: stop-losses only. A simple trailing stop that keeps the initial stop distance (from Initial Placement). Custom rules can’t be used.
Evaluate Using	Which rule wins when several want to move the order at the same time: Action Closest to Price, Action Farthest from Price (measured from the Last price), First Action to Trigger or Last Action to Trigger.
Add Trailing Rule	Adds a new trailing rule.

Trailing rule components

Each rule has a Name (Rule A, Rule B and so on; type your own as a reminder of what it does) and three columns. The ✖ button on the right deletes the rule.

1. Trigger On: what must happen before the order moves. For example, 10 ticks of profit before moving to breakeven.
2. Action: what to do, usually work out the new price and move the order there.
3. Repeat: whether the rule runs again to keep moving the order.

1. Trigger On

The condition that activates the rule. Once it has happened, the rule stays active for the rest of the trade, as Repeat allows. With None, the rule is active immediately. Each condition is described under Trigger conditions.

Tab	What it does
Basic	One trigger condition.
Advanced	Combines several conditions. Mode decides how: All (simultaneously): all on the same bar. All (in any order): all of them, on any bars. Any: whichever happens first. All (in sequence): all of them, in the order listed from the top. Drag conditions to reorder them. Add conditions with the Add menu.

Example: profit first, then price above the EMA(10)

To wait for 10 ticks of profit and then for the close to be above the EMA(10): on the Advanced tab, add a 10 tick profit condition, add Price vs Indicator below it, and set Mode to All (in sequence).

2. Action

Usually moves the order to a new price: trailing a stop-loss behind price, or moving an entry order closer to the market so it fills. It can also cancel or freeze the order, flatten the position, or send an alert. Each action is described under Actions.

A rule has one action. To move a stop-loss and send an alert, create two identical rules with different actions.

3. Repeat

How many times the rule can run, and how often. Some rules should run once, such as moving the stop-loss to breakeven; a trailing stop keeps running. The modes are described under Repeat.

Advanced tab

Holds Reverse Position When Filled, for stop-losses and profit targets: when the order fills, the trade reverses direction.

Setting	What it does
Reverse Position When Filled	Reverses the trade when this order fills.
Reverse Type	Just This Order Set: only this order’s order set is reversed. All Order Sets: every order set is reversed.
Upscale Contracts	Increases the quantity of the reversed trade. Ratio multiplies the initial quantity by the value; Addition adds the value to it.

Trigger conditions

The conditions that activate a trailing rule. They are also used by Place and Repeat Until. Once a rule’s trigger has happened, the rule stays active and its Action keeps running, as often as Repeat allows. For example, with Indicator Value set to “MACD above zero”, the stop-loss starts trailing the first time the MACD goes above zero.

Condition	Triggers when
BloodHound Signal	A BloodHound template gives a signal. Requires BloodHound.
Interval	A number of bars, an amount of time, or a price move has passed.
Indicator Value	An indicator crosses a threshold value.
Order Status Changed	An order in another order set is placed, filled or canceled.
Price vs Indicator	Price or an indicator is above or below an indicator.
Profit or Loss	The position reaches an amount of profit or loss.
Trade Signal Trigger	A trade signal from the Trade Signals section.

Which triggers follow the Calculate setting

BloodHound Signal, Indicator Value, Price vs Indicator and Trade Signal Trigger use indicators, so they are checked according to BlackBird’s Calculate setting (in the chart’s Strategy window). With “On bar close”, NinjaTrader’s default, they are checked when the bar closes. With “On price change” or “On each tick” they are checked in real time, subject to the Incoming Market Data Throttle. See also NinjaTrader tip: Calculate property inheritance.

Interval, Order Status Changed and Profit or Loss always work in real time, whatever the Calculate setting.

BloodHound Signal

Triggers on a BloodHound signal, so you can use full BloodHound logic to decide when to move an order. Requires BloodHound.

Setting	What it does
BloodHound Template	Click the field, then the ellipsis (…) button to open BloodHound and load the template file.
Logic Template	Which Logic Template in that file gives the signals.
Signal Trigger Mode	Signal In Same Direction: a long signal in a long trade, a short signal in a short trade. Signal In Opposite Direction: a short signal in a long trade, and the reverse. Signal In Either Direction: any signal. Signal In Both Direction: a long and a short signal on the same bar. No Signal In Same Direction: no long signal in a long trade, no short signal in a short trade. No Signal In Opposite Direction: no short signal in a long trade, and the reverse.
Confidence Compare Ratio, Confidence Use Compare, Long Threshold, Short Threshold	The same as the BloodHound properties of those names: see BloodHound properties.

Interval (Delay)

A waiting period, measured in bars, time or price movement.

Setting	What it does
Bars	Waits for this many bars to close.
Seconds, Minutes, Days	Waits for this much time to pass.
Ticks / Points / Currency Movement	Waits for price to move this far: in profit, in loss, or either way. It measures price movement, so the number of contracts doesn’t matter (unlike Profit or Loss). Currency is the instrument’s value per tick: $100 is 2 points on ES, 5 on NQ, 20 on YM.
Triggers	How the intervals combine. After becomes true once the interval has passed; Within is the opposite, true until it passes. After Shortest Interval: when any interval finishes. After Longest Interval: when all intervals have finished. Within Shortest Interval: true from the start until any interval finishes. Within Longest Interval: true from the start until all intervals have finished.

Movement examples

Wait for 10 ticks of profit before moving the stop-loss to breakeven. Or, if price runs 20 ticks away and the trade is missed, cancel the entry order.

Currency Movement (profit) 100: the market moves $100 in your favor, per the instrument’s value per tick: 2 points on ES, or 100 points on a stock.

Points Movement (loss) 5: the market moves 5 points against you. This could trigger a market entry to average down, instead of a resting limit order.

Video: when to use the Interval trigger and when to use Profit or Loss.

Indicator Value

Triggers when an indicator crosses a threshold. For example, start the rule when the CCI is above 200 or below -200.

Setting	What it does
Indicator	Click to open the indicator window, then Configure to choose the indicator, its settings and its plot. Long/Short Factor multiplies the value before it is compared: with a factor of 1.5 and a MACD of 0.55, the value compared is 0.825.
Long Mode	How the value is compared with the Long Threshold, for long trades: Greater Than, Greater Than or Equal To, Equal To, Less Than or Equal To or Less Than the threshold.
Long Threshold	The level for long trades. For example, MACD Less Than -0.35, or CCI Greater Than 200.
Short Mode	The same, for short trades.
Short Threshold	The level for short trades. For example, MACD Greater Than 0.35, or CCI Less Than -200.
Bars Ago	Which bar’s value to use: 0 is the current bar, 1 the previous bar, and so on.

Order Status Changed

Triggers when another order changes status. For example, when the first profit target fills, move the remaining stop-losses to breakeven.

Setting	What it does
Select Order	The order to watch: any entry, profit target or stop-loss in the other order sets. Names start with the order set’s letter (A->, B-> and so on), followed by the order name.
Mode	Placed: sent to NinjaTrader or the broker; mainly for delayed scale-in entries. All Filled: every contract filled. Any Filled: at least one contract filled. Cancelled: the order was canceled, for example a stop-loss canceled because its target filled, or an entry order canceled.

Price vs Indicator

Triggers when price or an indicator is above or below an indicator. For example, in a long trade, tighten the target or stop-loss when price drops below a moving average, or when a fast moving average drops below a slow one.

Setting	What it does
Bars Ago	Which bar to check: 0 is the current bar, 1 the previous bar, and so on.
Input A, Input B	Click [▼] to choose price or an indicator in the Select Input window.
Long Mode, Short Mode	How Input A is compared with Input B, for long and for short trades: A Above B, A Equal or Above B, A Equal or Below B or A Below B.

Profit or Loss

Triggers at an amount of unrealized profit or loss on the whole position, not one order set: NinjaTrader only reports P&L for the whole position. Contracts added by scaling in are included, at the recalculated entry price.

Setting	What it does
Mode	Profit, Loss, or either.
Unit	Ticks, Points, Currency, ATR (with an ATR Period) or Percent. NinjaTrader does the calculation: see its formulas. Percent is the move away from the entry price (0.5 is 0.5%), not a share of the trade’s possible profit. For example, 10 points of profit on 1 contract entered at 6300.00 is (10 × 1) ÷ (1 × 6300) = 0.0016%.
Min Amount	Triggers at this amount or more.
Max Amount	Triggers at this amount or less, which is usually true as soon as the position opens.

NinjaTrader uses the Last price for P&L, unless Tools » Options » Trading » “Use last price for PnL” is off or the instrument is Forex or a CFD; then it uses the bid for longs and the ask for shorts.

Trade Signal Trigger

Triggers on trade signals from the Trade Signals section. Mostly used to scale in: if BloodHound gives a second long signal during an uptrend, add to the position on it: set Mode to In Same Direction and Signals After 1st Entry to 1 (the first signal after the position opens).

Setting	What it does
Mode	Either Direction, In Same Direction or In Opposite Direction as the trade, or Long Signals Only / Short Signals Only whatever the trade direction.
Signals After 1st Entry	Which scale-in signal to act on, counting signals after the position is open: 1 is the first, 2 the second. Acts once, on that signal only.

How scaling in works

A position must already be open: this trigger only adds to it. The first signal, which opens the position, is the initial signal; later signals are scale-in signals. An entry order with Place set to None opens the position on the initial signal. Entry orders with this trigger add contracts on the scale-in signal you choose.

Actions

What a rule does once its trigger has happened, usually moving the order to a new price. Actions run immediately after the trigger, so when they happen (real time or at bar close) depends on the trigger and the Repeat settings, not directly on the Calculate setting.

Move Order To

The default and most used action: moves the order to a new price. Typical uses: trailing or tightening a stop-loss as profit grows, pulling a profit target in when momentum slows, or moving an unfilled entry closer to the market.

Setting	What it does
Move To	Where to move the order: a bar Price, an Indicator Value, a Swing Point Price or a Linear Regression Channel line, each with an offset. See Select Input window.
Allowed Movement	Both Directions: for example, a limit entry that follows a moving average up and down. With Direction Only: up in a long trade, down in a short trade. How stop-losses always move. Against Direction Only: down in a long trade, up in a short trade. Evaluate Using can also limit movement.

Cancel Order

Cancels the order. It can’t be replaced for the rest of the trade, and it doesn’t close the position. Canceling a stop-loss doesn’t cancel its profit target, or vice versa. Most useful for an entry that didn’t fill before the market moved on. Only works on accepted, working orders: to cancel a pending entry, use Cancel on the Options tab.

Flatten Position

Closes the whole position (not just this order set) and cancels pending entries. To close one order set instead, move its target or stop-loss to the Last price.

Freeze Order

Locks the order at its current price for the rest of the trade. A frozen order can’t be unfrozen or moved by any rule.

Alerts

Post to Alerts Window, Log Message, Chart Symbol, Chart Message, Play Sound and Send Email notify you instead of changing the order. See Alerts » Alert types.

Repeat

Some rules should run once, such as “move the stop-loss to breakeven”. Others keep running until the order fills or is canceled, like a trailing stop. Repeat sets how many times and how often.

Mode	What it does
No Repeat	Runs once, then turns off. For breakeven moves, or with Flatten Position.
Repeat X Times	Runs up to this many times, then turns off.
Repeat Indefinitely	Keeps running until the order fills or is canceled.
Repeat Until	Keeps running until a condition you build from the trigger conditions happens. Trigger On decides when the rule starts; Repeat Until decides when it stops.

Repeat Every

With Repeat X Times, Repeat Indefinitely and Repeat Until: how often the rule is checked, and so how often it can run. Units are Ticks, Points, Currency, Bars, Seconds, Minutes and Days. For example:

Setting	Runs the rule at most
1 Tick	On every tick the market moves. A standard trailing stop needs this, so it moves up every time the market ticks higher.
1 Bar	Once per bar. Enough for a stop that follows SuperTrend or ATRTrailingStoploss, which only update when the bar closes. Only meaningful with Calculate set to “On price change” or “On each tick”.
5 Minutes	Once every 5 minutes.

Only Repeat When Re-Triggered

Normally the Trigger On condition only has to happen once; the rule then keeps running until Repeat stops it. With this on, the rule turns off after each action, and its Trigger On condition must be true again before it can run again.

Select Input window

Sets a price wherever one is needed: Initial Placement, the Move Order To action and some triggers. Choose one of four modes at the top; every mode has an Offset section at the bottom.

Price

Any bar price. For example, a common way to trail a stop is to the previous bar’s low, or the low two bars back.

Price	What it is
Open, High, Low, Close, Median, Typical, Weighted	Standard NinjaTrader bar prices. Available historically, for backtesting.
Ask, Bid, Last	Only available with real-time data or the Playback Connection, so backtests need the Playback Connection.
Body Top, Body Median, Body Bottom	SharkIndicators prices: the top of the candle body (close on an up bar, open on a down bar), its middle ((Close + Open) ÷ 2), and its bottom.
Average Entry Price	The average entry price of all filled entries, from NinjaTrader.
Entry Price	The average fill price of this order set’s entry only.
Other Order Price	The price of another order you choose, for example to keep stop-losses in sync. If that order is gone, its last price is used. Example: in a long trade, stop A is at 7550.00; order set B fills lower and its stop is at 7535.00. A rule can move stop B to stop A.
This Order’s Price	Trailing Actions only (formerly “Previous Order Price”). The order’s current price, to move it a set distance. For example, to move a stop-loss up 5 ticks on YM: This Order’s Price with a Long offset of 5 ticks moves 22,600 to 22,605.

Setting	What it does
Lookback Period	How many bars to look at: 1 is the current bar, 2 includes the previous bar, and so on.
Process Lookback By	Single Value: the price from the bar the Lookback Period points to (like Bars Ago). Average Values: the average over the Lookback Period. Max Values: the highest price in the period, for example the highest High of the last 10 bars. Min Values: the lowest price in the period.

Indicator Value

An indicator’s value. Many third-party indicators calculate target and stop prices you can use here.

Setting	What it does
Indicator	Click Configure to choose the indicator, its settings and its plot.
Displacement	Like NinjaTrader’s Displacement: uses the value from this many bars back. 5 uses the value from 5 bars ago.

Swing Point Prices

Swing high and low prices from the Swings Highs & Lows indicator. A shortcut: you could also choose that indicator under Indicator Value.

Setting	What it does
Number of Swings, Swing Size, Swing Style	The indicator’s own settings. See Swings Highs & Lows for examples.
Top / Bottom	The swing high (Top) or swing low (Bottom).
Widest / Tightest	Widest: the highest high or lowest low of the swings counted. Tightest: the inside swing high or low. See the examples.

Linear Regression Channel

Setting	What it does
Period	The channel’s period.
Channel Width	The width in standard deviations.
Long/Short Trades	Which line: upper, middle or lower.

Offset section

Adds to or subtracts from the price set at the top of the window.

Setting	What it does
Long Offset, Short Offset	A fixed distance for long and for short trades, in Ticks, Points, Currency or Percent. Currency is the instrument’s own (Euros for FDAX, Hong Kong dollars for HHI). Percent is a percentage of the price above.
Indicator	Uses an indicator value as the distance. It must output points, not a price. ATR is the usual choice. Click [···], add the indicator, set it up, and choose the plot.
Long Factor, Short Factor	Multiplies the Indicator value. Typically positive for long profit targets and short stop-losses, negative for long stop-losses and short profit targets.

The Synchronize button (on by default) mirrors the long and short values: type 2 in one and -2 appears in the other. Turn it off to set them separately.

Examples

A 2 × ATR profit target: Long Factor 2 and an ATR of 0.15 give 2 × 0.15 = 0.30, added to the entry price. For a short, Short Factor -2 gives -0.30, so the target is 0.30 below the entry.

With the MACD instead: Long Factor 1.5 and a MACD of 0.55 give 0.825, added to the price. Short Factor -2 gives -1.1, which is subtracted.