MultiCharts: Trading Software for Automated Trading and Backtesting

Hi here,

I am trading both the ES and ZB and I notice that when ZB market is inactive, it has no second timer counting down compared to the ES market. On the 15M charts, the second timers are available on both ES and ZB chart. Is this a bug or is it normal? See below picture.

Is it not intuitive that the counting down timer should always be there regardless of market activities on the 1M chart?

Hello Adrian,

That is expected behavior.
Which countdown value do you expect when there is no market activity?

Hello Adrian,

That is expected behavior.
Which countdown value do you expect when there is no market activity?

The 1 minute countdown value should be available even when there is no market activity.

Hello Adrian,

That is expected behavior.
Which countdown value do you expect when there is no market activity?

The 1 minute countdown value should be available even when there is no market activity.

The countdown shows when the current bar will be closed, i.e. it requires an open bar.
We do not find it good when there is no market activity (ex. trading session is closed) but you have the countdown updating on the chart, it can be misleading.

Henry,

Please review the attached picture. As you can see, the market is still opened and that there is a timer countdown on the 15M chart but not the 1M chart. Because the market is still open, the timer on the 1minute chart should be on regardless of market activity. Image another case of a doji where the open bar is the same price as the close bar.

Henry,

Please review the attached picture. As you can see, the market is still opened and that there is a timer countdown on the 15M chart but not the 1M chart. Because the market is still open, the timer on the 1minute chart should be on regardless of market activity. Image another case of a doji where the open bar is the same price as the close bar.

The countdown shows when the current bar will be closed, i.e. it requires an open bar.

ZBM6 1 minute had no realtime tick within the last minute, no open bar = no countdown
ZBM6 15 minutes had realtime tick within the last 15 minutes = countdown is shown

ESM6 1 minute had realtime tick within the last minute = countdown is shown
ESM6 15 minutes had realtime tick within the last 15 minutes = countdown is shown

Henry, thanks for the explanation. However, there is a problem with this implementation. See my code below when attached to the 1M chart.
When I set SystemFinalExit = 1508, the code does not execute. This is not good and I then had to close my trades manually. Is this a bug or a platform implementation issue?

Henry, thanks for the explanation. However, there is a problem with this implementation. See my code below when attached to the 1M chart.

Code: Select all

SystemFinalExit =1504;


if time > SystemFinalExit OR time < SystemStartTime then
Begin
if MarketPosition_at_Broker_for_The_Strategy < 0 then BUYTOCOVER ("EoD sell Exit") All contracts Next Bar At Market;
if MarketPosition_at_Broker_for_The_Strategy > 0 then SELL("EoD buy Exit") All contracts Next Bar at Market;
end ;

When I set SystemFinalExit = 1508, the code does not execute. This is not good and I then had to close my trades manually. Is this a bug or a platform implementation issue?

Time - Returns a numerical value indicating the closing time of the current bar.
If there is no bar with Time>1508 then the condition in your code will not be met.
When condition is met you need next tick or a new bar (depending on IOG settings) to have the order sent.
Please study the following wiki pages:
https://www.multicharts.com/trading-sof ... Calculated
https://www.multicharts.com/trading-sof ... ripts_Work

Thanks Henry,

I am aware of the two links that you have provided but they do not solve my problem. The market is still open and I can perform the trade manually even though there are no ticks coming through.


Is there a work around it? Multicharts is an automated trading platform; hence, any manual task should be automated. Is there a way to use my computer (local time) to close trades?

Everything you need was already suggested in this post.

Thanks Henry for helping out. There are so many nuances about futures trading and I am learning something new each day. Who knew "time" is not universal and that it required incoming ticks for counting.