PJSZigZag – An alternative ZigZag tool for Ninjatrader 8
As usual, existing apps did not quite do what I wanted. Also, I was looking for a tool to better support my particular style of scalping. This is what I came up with. What makes it different? Well, for starters, it does not just start a new swing X points in one direction, X in another (like the default swing indicator). It uses a more ‘price action’ based formula (pivots should be broken to form new pivots), with many added features I have found useful. In addition, it is efficient. Swing data is drawn via NT8 OnRender, on-demand, rather than the common use of ‘Text Objects’. This saves loading up Ninjatrader charts with 100’s or even 1000’s of text objects you can’t even see and makes the whole thing more usable, when you need it, in volatility. As usual, performance is something I focus on and the humble ZigZag is no exception. Even the text strings are formatted in advance, and cached, to prevent this from having to be done on screen draws.
Features & Usage
So how do we actually use this indicator? Well, that is of course up to you. But, first for me, are the rotation sizes. Don’t know the typical rotation size for your instrument? You should. Percentages are used here, as it’s consistent over time. Apart from the typical rotation size, we can also optionally include (which I use all the time), the rotation size _past_ the prior pivot, so, how far did we travel past the last low on this low, or past the last high on this poke higher. Think higher high, lower low. In fact, you can optionally have the indicator mark HH/LL/LH/HL, and even double tops and bottoms. There are a couple of ways to do this.
Example showing the HH/LL dots. They only change colour when price action flips from making higher highs, to lower lows, and vice versa. These are a handy reminder – Did we just form a lower high, and perhaps this trend is ending?
and you can also see the HH/LL text printed with each rotation.
The rotation sizes in themselves are useful (at least, they are to me!). For example, if you are looking for a reversal, knowing if your current rotation is extended, or still young, can help you to not jump in too early. There is a special character before each of the rotation sizes which helps you with this. ‘<‘ tells you the current rotation size is below average (based on your chart data length), ‘>’ tells you the current rotation size is above average, and ‘~’ tells you the current size is just about right. Typically, you can expect the trending side to be making slightly better advances than the other side. For example, if we are trending up and making higher highs, you expect those extensions to be slightly more percentage-wise, than the rotations down. Watching these can be a good heads up to behaviour change.
Rotation analysis
There are a couple of parts to this. One simply shows the average rotations sizes for up and down and uses that data to help estimate future swings and the other is a time-based analysis. This separates each pivot time into a 5-minute bucket, then checks to see the 5-minute bucket with the most rotations in it. It does this for up and down swings, as well as the sum. You might be surprised by what you find! I know I was when first introduced to this concept a while back. This little analysis alone is worth the time it took to develop this, given what I learned from it.
Here is an example from YM
So, what is this little chart overlay telling us? Well, each big bar is a 5-minute bucket, starting on the hour. The 2 little inside bars are the up and down rotations. The big bar, the 2 combined. So, what use is this? Well, in trading we look for opportunities. These opportunities tend to have a timing component. You will notice here, for example, more rotations started on the hour for this instrument recently than at any other time. How does that help? Well, taking a trade expecting a rotation near the top of the hour in this instrument has a higher probability of success? Does that mean you get a winning trade? No, of course, you cannot trade on this alone. But, if I know rotations typically happen on the hour, far less frequently in the 25-30 minute, and more commonly in the 30-45 minute window, what do you think I am going to do if something lines up? Yes, it is all part of the picture, getting your ducks in a row, so to speak. I mean, we need as many things in our favour as we can get, right?
Pivot highs and lows
A simple option, but how many of you spend the time in real-time to mark off pivot highs and lows? I’m a short time frame trader and get caught up in other things quite easily, so miss things. Here is a 15-minute chart marked up with swing highs only. Now, those levels, for me, are little cash machines! Play at your levels. As some other traders say, ‘Don’t Diddle in the Middle!’ (I think that was Mr Yen, but I may be mistaken – Great guy – Look him up on YT if you’ve not heard of him before. Quirkier than me! ). The level colour, opacity, etc can be changed. They are also drawn via OnRender, so again, no ‘lines’ clogged up the drawObjects list.
Display options
Displays a wide variety of swing data, as pictured below (from the indicator settings)
Retracements
It’s often very helpful to know, for example, the 50% retracement of the prior swing. We can customise the retracement level and zone appearance, as well as specify minimum rotation sizes. This will print for the last 2 swings. The retracement zone is specified by setting 2 retracement levels. A high, and low. A rectangle will then be drawn on swings over the minimum swing size, from the min to max retracement levels. The default is to highlight the 50-62% area of the swing. The retracement box will stop drawing once the price closes through it.
The swing developing VPOC
This is one you won’t typically see on many (if any!) other zigzag tools. I’ve used this manually in my trading for a long time. Watch it for a while, and I hope it will help you, too! Better than any average, better than those trending step indies, better than sliced bread. OK, maybe not really. But, an average is just a representation of price. The step/trend tools tend to take into account ranges (or the better ones do), but they are all just based on price. They both have their place, but neither will tell you accurately when the majority of people in that swing are on the right/wrong side. This will! And, that’s what it’s all about, right?
Here is an example. With the option turned on, these will plot for the currently confirmed swing in progress.
This option does require tick data when in use, so it only plots in real-time and will use some additional resources. It will backload tick data to populate the current swing, if possible. Note, to preserve performance, it does not load an additional tick series on the chart to accomplish this. I would not recommend enabling this on all your charts, but I 100% want it on my scalp chart! This type of feature is more commonly found in volume profiling tools, and even then, not that common. Maybe it’s not that widely known. I could not trade without it and decided to build it into my ZigZag, so I could make this functionality more widely available.
Per swing automatic volume profiling
With this option enabled, pjsZigZag will plot per swing volume profiles.
Per swing delta
Per swing delta is able to be plotted along with other real-time data such as the volume profiles and vpocs. This enables you to look more easily for delta divergences.
Most recent HH/LL
I have never seen this elsewhere, but I found it useful to manually mark off the last higher high, or higher low, many times. So, I automated it. Since doing that, I’ve found it very useful. Very simple concept, but these lines come into play so often!
Trade aids
As with some of my other indies, I’ve added some ‘Trade aids’. The first of these is the ‘1-2-3’ potential reversal. This is based on observations made, but it has its base in many other theories. Elliot wave, Wycoff, etc. This is a simple and exploitable thing to watch for. 3 or more LL, or HH, tend to result in at least some sort of correctional retracement thereafter. If you are a scalper, you can take advantage of this on short time frame charts. If you are looking for a long term reversal, it’s an extra edge you can use for your entry. The voice alerts are in operation on detection of this event if you have them enabled (yes, my indies all have voice alerts!). Of course, it is not guaranteed to get a reversal, but, if you spent the time to monitor these, draw in your trend line when they are present, and observe, I think you will find something you may be able to take advantage of. Here is an example of a 1-2-3 alert, and the 2b signal, below
The second, as mentioned above, is the 2b reversal pattern. These are fairly new to me, but I’ve traded them in the past (under different guises). The 2b is a way of formalising the entry rules. Now, this is my interpretation of it and there is no guarantee of continuation, but the 2b alerts can optionally be turned on and monitored. The idea of a 2b or thrust, (my interpretation) is a poke of a prior swing high/low and rejection back down.
So there you go.
Please be sure to read the ‘Updates‘ section below for all the latest news.
What do you think? Have any ideas? Let me know in the comments section below.
You might like to take a look at some of my other Ninjatrader bits and pieces.
Requirements
Ninjatrader 8
Updates
2022.07.09 – Please see the docs release notes for details. Thanks!
2022.02.19 – Improved volume profile rendering and performance. Added swing Delta stat. Revised and improved (I hope you agree) retracement level marking. A few cosmetic changes to config options and other minor code changes/improvements. If you need a new trial, just ask (send me your product key from the settings).
2022.01.22 – Pretty significant update. I know it’s not long been released, but as stated, it was an early release. People were asking me for it and I wanted to get some feedback, which I got. I still have features in test from that feedback, but I wanted to do another early release and see what you think. This one includes per swing volume profiles. This, for me, is immensely useful and I’ve not seen anything else that has this feature. I’ve been doing this manually for years. Watch this live if you want to learn how price really moves! Because of the significant new feature, all past trials have been reset so everyone can take a look if they want, even if the prior trial expired. The pattern detection for 2b and qm should be considered incomplete, though please feel free to use them if you wish. Please note – The volume profiles are NOT drawn with the NT8 volume profile tool, so, you do not need to the ‘Pro’ version (or order flow version, of whatever they call it) to use these.
Turn on these options for the volume profiles (and optionally the historical profiles, if you want). They only build in real-time.
Example of per-swing volume profiles in replay, hence the jerky motion! (Use NT8’s ctl-scroll mouse button to shift the profile behind your bars if it overprints)
Notes
None yet.
Real-world usage
We are actual traders, trading real money and not just software developers trading SIM. We’ve traded with our indicators, live, for 1000’s of hours. We can offer some ideas for usage, though we strongly recommend you experiment and find your own edge. We’ll be posting more details here and some video content soon 🙂
Download
if you already have a license key, please make sure you enter it in the indicator properties as part of the process of adding the indicator to your chart. Probably a good idea to ‘save as default’, so your key is remembered in your indicator template.As usual, let me know below if any issues and I will try to resolve them, time permitting.
Licensing
This tool requires a license after the 7 day trial period. You can purchase one here. Please make sure the indicator meets your requirements, prior to purchase. Thanks for your support!
FAQ
Can I install this on multiple computers? Yes – Up to 2 with the same licensed version of Ninjatrader, with the same license key.
Does this indicator redraw?
It does not. At all. Ever. What it does do, is move the pivot in progress until it’s confirmed. Price does have to retrace a way to do that, based on your settings. But, and I realise most other versions of ZZ don’t do this, which is what I added it, you can see a big >>>>>>> on the pivot text showing you this is a pivot IN PROGRESS. Not confirmed. Once the >>>>>> goes away, you know it is confirmed. The intent of this indicator is not to predict turn points but to give you information regarding them.
Alerts – A lot of people have not realised the alerts can be voice alerts! Yes, this indie speaks to you! For some, it has not worked. This is just how their Windows 10 has been configured. To fix this is easy. If you don’t get voice alerts, and you have in fact enabled alerts in the settings, check this
In your windows 10 ‘settings’, Time and language
Speech
And check what voices you have there