CrossTrade 2.0: The Future of Trading with Our New NinjaTrader Add-On

CrossTrade is the best and most powerful way to execute orders in NinjaTrader 8 (NT8) by webhook. Most of our traders are already using it with their TradingView charts and strategies.

But the world of trading is evolving, and so are we. At CrossTrade, we’re excited to announce a significant upgrade to our platform: the new CrossTrade NT8 Add-On.

This isn’t just a step forward from our desktop client—it's an entirely new chapter in how traders like you can optimize performance. It will allow us to bring a host of new and highly requested features to you, the traders.

Let’s dive into the many benefits that come with this exciting transition.

Why Transition to a NinjaTrader Add-On?

Our current desktop client has served traders well, but it's limited to the functionality allowed by NinjaTrader’s ATI (Automated Trading Interface). As an external tool, it doesn't fully tap into NinjaTrader's potential and can't provide information about account or position status.

Our new Add-On, however, changes that by offering deep integration and enhanced functionality. By running inside of NT8, we're able to interrogate all facets of a trading account the same way we'd be able to using NinjaScript directly. That means CrossTrade can now make decisions based on the status of actual positions and stop or modify signals at the door.

Enhanced Access to Account-Level Information

The CrossTrade NinjaTrader Add-On provides direct access to your account-level information, allowing you to make smarter, faster trading decisions. The Add-On pulls in real-time data directly from your NinjaTrader account as needed, ensuring that trade safeguards and position management are more responsive to live market conditions.

Streamlined Trading Experience

The new Add-On is designed to simplify your workflow. Say goodbye to running a separate desktop application! Once installed, the Add-On integrates seamlessly with NinjaTrader, allowing you to place orders instantly with fewer steps. This tighter integration not only reduces complexity but drastically improves the efficiency of order execution.

Improved Order Flow and Speed

In trading, speed is critical. By eliminating the desktop application as a middleman, the Add-On accelerates the order flow directly within NinjaTrader, reducing latency and helping you execute trades faster. This is a key advantage for traders needing to react to rapid market changes in real time.

How It Works: The NinjaTrader Add-On

If you're familiar with NinjaTrader 8 (NT8) Add-Ons, installing the CrossTrade Add-On will be a breeze.

• To install, download the zip. In NT8 navigate to Control Panel > Tools > Import > NinjaScript Add-On and select the zip you just downloaded.
• After clicking Yes a few times, open the CrossTrade app in Control Panel > New > CrossTrade
• Done!

Once installed, the add-on offers seamless integration and expands your access to features unavailable with the desktop client.

Expanded Testing Environment

With CrossTrade 2.0, we’ve enhancing our testing environment. The existing test sandbox has been relocated to your user dashboard and upgraded with new features to make strategy testing more intuitive and accessible. Now you can thoroughly vet your strategies before deploying them live, minimizing risk and optimizing performance.

You can read more about it in last week's announcement post.

Introducing the Redesigned CrossTrade Dashboard: Now with a Built-in Test Sandbox!

The redesigned dashboard comes with three key improvements, a built in Test Sandbox, Basic and Advanced templated Commands and access to your Secret Key.

CrossTradeCrossTrade Team

In addition, we're planning to release a full suite of easily searchable and discoverable documentation for each order type that puts all information about building webhook alert messages in one place.

Unprecedented Control Over Trade Safeguards

Our new Add-On provides deeper insights and control over your trade safeguards and position management. With direct access to more account data on your dashboard, you can easily manage your trades in line with your risk tolerance and current market conditions.

Laying the Groundwork for the Future

CrossTrade 2.0 is more than just an immediate upgrade—it's a foundation for the future. By transitioning to the NinjaTrader Add-On, we’ve paved the way for innovations like the CrossTrade API, which opens the door to custom scripting and integration with other brokers and trading platforms. More details will be revealed soon, but rest assured that exciting developments are on the horizon.

What’s Next?

The transition to our NinjaTrader Add-On is just the beginning of a new era in trading efficiency and performance. We’re here to ensure that you have a smooth transition and that you’re set up for continued success. Keep an eye on Discord and the blog for the latest updates as we roll out CrossTrade 2.0.

Ready to Experience CrossTrade 2.0?

Stay tuned for more updates, and get ready to elevate your trading game with our new NinjaTrader Add-On. We're confident this upgrade will provide you with a more powerful, efficient, and streamlined trading experience.

New Features Available Now

CrossTrade 2.0 is live, and with it comes a host of new features designed to optimize your trading. The following features are now available, with complete documentation to follow in the next few weeks:

Four new commands

• CANCELORDERS
  • CANCELORDERS improves upon CANCELALLORDERS. It allows for cancellation of orders for a specific account and/or instrument instead of cancelling all orders everywhere.
• FLATTEN
  • FLATTEN improves upon FLATTENEVERYTHING. Similarly, it allows flattening of positions for a specific account and/or symbol.
• FLATPLACE
  • FLATPLACE is identical behavior in behavior to the PLACE command with the flatten_first=true; flag set
• CANCELREPLACE
  • CANCELREPLACE introduces the ability to replace an existing order (by a given order_id) with a new PLACE command

Require Market Position

A brand new flag called require_market_position available to any command with both an account and instrument field. It blocks and prevents the signal from going through unless the NT8 market position is flat, short, or long.

For example, a PLACE command with require_market_position=flat; for account "sim101" and instrument "ES 12-24" will not be processed unless there's no preexisting position in ES 12-24 under account sim101. The position must be flat for the order to proceed.

key=my-secret-key;
command=PLACE;
account=sim101;
instrument=CL 12-24;
action=BUY;
qty=1;
order_type=MARKET;
tif=DAY;
require_market_position=flat;

CrossTrade API

For any developers out there who don't like or are tired of coding in C# under .NET 4.8 and would rather be able to submit orders and do your algo trading in the language of your choice, now you can!

The CrossTrade API is available and free for all Add-On users. As long as the CrossTrade Add-On is running, you now have remote access to your NT8 from anywhere, in any language. The same REST API that powers the new XT Add-On can be used by any CrossTrader, with a complete set of 25 endpoints to query account, position, and order information, as well as place, close, cancel, and modify orders.

We are very, very excited about this and we can only hope it inspired you to build incredible things, powered by CrossTrade.

The API itself is complete and available, the documentation is available here.

Improved warnings, error messaging, and helpful hints

We've put in a lot of effort trying to make warnings and error messages more useful, showing you exactly what and where the problem is in the message format or field used. We want everyone to be self-sufficient and able to diagnose and fix issues quickly,

Upcoming Features

Here’s a sneak peek at our short term roadmap. Some exciting features coming soon to CrossTrade 2.0:

• Limit the number of open positions across multiple symbols by setting a max_positions=X; flag. The signal will be blocked if more than X positions are already open in other symbols.
• Customizable start_time and end_time trading windows for greater control over trade timing. Signals will be blocked if the current time (NYC) is outside of the start_time and end_time window. The XT Controls Trading Window will still be evaluated, if present. Alert-specific trading window just adds another level of control.
• Set limit prices, stop prices, take profit, and stop loss either by a number of ticks or as a percentage of the last underlying price.
• Ability to partially close X% of current contracts.

These features are designed to give you more flexibility and control, ensuring your trading strategy aligns with both your goals and market conditions. We hope to have them released within the next month.

Wishlist Features

While we are constantly improving, we understand that some features require more intricate integration:

• Block signals after reaching a daily loss or profit limit.

Tracking account cash values is a challenge, requiring the Add-On to run continuously—but we’re exploring ways to make this feasible. We know this is a big one for prop traders who are trading with specific guidelines and requirements.

NinjaTrader 8 does not provide any native way to query historical cash balance, which means it would have to be tracked over time. But that means CrossTrade can have no knowledge of an account's balance if it is not running. It's a difficult problem to solve.

We’re always listening to your feedback and exploring these wishlist features for future updates.

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FAQs

I’m still using the Windows app. What happens to me?

You can continue using the Windows app, but you won’t have access to new features that are exclusive to the NinjaTrader Add-On or the CrossTrade API.

Can I still use the CrossTrade desktop client?

Yes, you can continue to use the desktop client, but you won’t have access to the new features or the CrossTrade API available through the Add-On.

What happens if the Windows app and Add-On run simultaneously?

If both the Windows app and the Add-On are running, NinjaTrader will prioritize the Add-On and ignore the Windows app. We recommend fully transitioning to the Add-On for the best experience.

What is the key advantage of using the CrossTrade NinjaTrader Add-On?

The Add-On offers deeper integration with NinjaTrader, enabling faster, more streamlined trading with enhanced access to real-time account data.

Will there be any documentation for the new Add-On features?

Yes, full documentation will be available in the next few weeks.

What if I run into issues during the transition?

We’re here to help! If you encounter any problems moving from the desktop app to the Add-On, please don’t hesitate to Contact Us.

Parting Thoughts

CrossTrade 2.0 represents a significant leap forward in connected trading technologies. By transitioning to the NinjaTrader Add-On, we’re providing traders with enhanced speed, improved order flow, and deeper integration. This new era of trading efficiency not only meets your current needs but also sets the stage for exciting innovations in the future.

Are you ready to upgrade your trading experience? Stay tuned for more features, and enjoy the power and flexibility of CrossTrade 2.0.

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