I've been using NinjaTrader for close to 7 years now, and have been with them through all the ups and downs of 6, 6.5, and the many multiple versions of 7 that we've been given across the last few years. Each time we have a revision, there are more NinjaTrader indicators that come out or appear on the forums as people became more comfortable with the platform.
I've really enjoyed how NinjaTrader indicators mimic Google or Apple "apps", in that the community is always growing with many valuable "apps"/indicators for NinjaTrader indicator users being free. Many are just only slightly better than what you get from the default NinjaTrader indicator list. But occaisionally, you come across one that makes your heart skip a little beat. That one indicator that has the potential to unlock that last little tumbler you've been looking for to help you get to the next level of your trading. The one you save on multiple hard drives so you won't lose it - especially if the original author smartens up and takes it down off of the website.
For me, that one indicator was the "Divergent Input Series" indicator, written anonymously for the NinjaTrader community. The Divergent Input Series indicator - at first glance, is very normal, and very simple. Some of it's results are fairly ho hum, in fact. Most traders have been taught to look for divergence from their very earliest days of trading. Divergence, simply put, means if price is going down, and your other oscillating indicator is going up - you should fade the move. Or, if price is going up, and the secondary oscillator is going down, you should similarly fade the move.
Most people apply these types of indicators to standard things like MACD, RSI, or STOCHASTICS - indicators normally found in the NinjaTrader indicator default list. But when you get the Divergent Input Series indicator, you notice that you have access to EVERYTHING in the Ninjatrader Indicator list to reference as a secondary oscillator.
Here's an example of a typical MACD style divergence indicator for Ninjatrader:
I've noticed that one of those tools works best, when applied to this tool - and it's not what anyone would ever usually think to apply. It's the "VOL" indicator from the NinjaTrader indicator drop down list. When you use these two things together - you essentially have a powerful volume spread analysis tool - for free. Most VSA programs cost upwards of a thousand, or two thousand dollars. Their job is to show you when volume is doing something different, relative to price action.
Most analysts would agree that volume spread analysis is one of the only PREDICTIVE indicators around. Volume divergence generally PRECEDES the move, or the reversal, as insitutional traders are buying INTO the low, or selling INTO the high, to get the best price. Here's a screenshot of what this tool looks like on the Emini S&P (it works best on range, tick, and volume bar types....good on minute bars, but better on "non-time" based bars):
Simple strategies work better than complex ones
When using this tool, I like to turn the "show swings parameter" to "False". I lower the swing size values to a bare minimum - either a 1 before 1 after, or 2 before, 2 after - and that helps me see the pullbacks with trend. See, institutions will buy into lows to get the best price before the next run up - and that's when the green arrow appears. If you've ever seen a run away up day and sat there unprepared to trade it - you'll thank me later for this tool and this post. Similarly - on days when the market is falling like a hot rock, check what happens at the red arrow plots when the institutions are selling into highs:
As you can see - when you're filtering against trend, you find virtually every "peak pullback" before the hammer comes down - or before the next launch up as the institutions sell or buy into the pullback. See, you can't "hide" volume. It's one of the purest, most predictive tools you can watch - and when analyzed against price action becomes a deadly leading predictive indicator.
I've uploaded the indicator file, along with the template you need to recreate the charts I've created here in a Dropbox download link. I put it in the area of our website we call "NinjaTrader Unplugged" where we give away indicators and templates that help traders do more with their base platform - using standard and free NinjaTrader indicators to help them get their trading up off the ground.
To get the indicator, and the template files with my settings, simply click here:
NINJATRADER INDICATORS UNPLUGGED
If you have any questions about this indicator, or the template files I've uploaded, you can email me at michael@backtothefuturetrading.com, or hit me up on Skype, at "Integra-Michael". Let me know how you like the tool, and if you use it successfully in your trading!
