Ninja Trader, LLC was established in 2004 as a privately held company. Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, NinjaTrader, LLC develops high-performance trading software and market data services. NinjaTrader recently introduced brokerage services to directly support futures and forex traders.
NinjaTrader is its award winning trading platform developed for active traders interested in the stock, futures and forex markets. There is no fee for using NinjaTrader's standard features, which include advanced charting, market analytics, automated strategy development, backtesting and optimization, and trade simulation. Traders who wish to use NinjaTrader to execute live trades through a brokerage account may either purchase a lifetime license or lease the platform on a quarterly, semi-annual, or annual basis.
Opening a New Chart
New price charts can be opened from the Control Center by clicking on "File"> "New"> "Chart." The Data Series window appears. Double-click on an instrument so that it appears in the lower left box in the Data Series window. Review and make any necessary changes to the Period, Chart Style, Data, Visual, and Trades options on the right side of the window. Click "OK and the new chart with the selected symbol and time frame will open. NinjaTrader does not limit the number of charts that can open at any time; however, more open windows will require more PC resources. For better performance, traders should only have the necessary charts open.
Chart Properties
A price chart can be customized to reflect the trader's style and color preferences. Right-click on any price chart and select "Properties," use the default CTRL + T Hot Key, or click on the Properties icon 
at the top of the chart, to customize the visual display settings of the chart. Traders have the option to specify colors for each variable, including Background, Grid, and Axis colors, as shown in Figure 10. Click on any variable in the Chart Properties window to view a drop-down menu of choices. Continue making the desired selections, click "Apply" and then click "OK" to close the window. The price chart will now reflect the changes. (For more, see Analyzing Chart Patterns.)
at the top of the chart, to customize the visual display settings of the chart. Traders have the option to specify colors for each variable, including Background, Grid, and Axis colors, as shown in Figure 10. Click on any variable in the Chart Properties window to view a drop-down menu of choices. Continue making the desired selections, click "Apply" and then click "OK" to close the window. The price chart will now reflect the changes. (For more, see Analyzing Chart Patterns.)
Figure 10: The Chart Properties window
Chart properties can be saved as a Chart Template, which can be applied to other charts for quick loading of customized chart settings. To save a Chart Template, right-click the chart and select "Templates" > "Save As…" The Save Chart Template window will appear. Enter a name for the template and click "OK."
A Chart Template can also be saved as the default template that will be used for all charts. To save a Chart Template as default, right-click the chart and select "Templates" > "Save as Default." To load a Chart Template, right-click on a price chart and select "Templates" > "Load." The Load Chart Template window will appear. Select the desired template to load from the list of templates and click "OK."
Chart Toolbar
The chart toolbar provides access to the various chart features, and can be enabled or disabled via Chart Properties. The toolbar appears by default. To disable, in the Chart Properties window, enter "False" in the "Show Toolbar" field. Each icon represents a different feature that traders can access or customize, as illustrated in Figure 11.
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| Figure 11: The Chart Toolbars. The toolbar as it appears on a price chart is shown at the top of the image; individual icons and corresponding titles are shown below |
Instrument - The drop-down menu contains all of the symbols that have been entered into the Instrument Manager.
Period - The chart interval, such as one minute, daily, weekly, monthly or yearly.
Bar Style - The style of the price bars, including candlestick, OHLC, and line on close. Bar spacing options also appear when clicking on this icon.
Drawing Tools - A variety of tools for drawing trendlines, Fibonacci Regressions, Gann Fans and other objects.
Zoom In - Zoom in on a specified area of the chart. Click on the Zoom In icon and immediately click and drag to create a box around the desired area. Release the mouse and the area will be enlarged to show detail.
Zoom Out - Reverses a Zoom In request. Click once to return the chart to its original position.
Cursor - Click on this icon to select the standard windows pointer, cross hair, or Global Cross Hair for chart navigation.
Show Data Box - The Data Box shows information for any selected price bar, including date, price, open, high, low, close, volume and indicator values.
Chart Trader - When enabled, the Chart Trader control will appear on the right side of the chart window. Traders will be able to submit, modify and cancel orders directly from within the chart.
Data Series - Select additional symbols and customize chart period, style, data, and certain visual features.
Indicators - Select from a variety of standard technical analysis tools. Once installed, custom indicators will appear in this list as well. Double-click any indicator so it appears in the lower box; review and/or make changes to indicator values on the right side of the window. Click "Apply" to add the indicator to the chart. (For related reading, see Basics Of Technical Analysis: Indicators and Oscillators.)
Strategies - Select from a variety of sample strategies. Once installed, custom strategies will appear in this list as well. Double-click on any strategy so it appears in the lower box; review and/or make changes to the strategy values on the right side of the window. Click "Apply" to add the strategy to the chart.
Properties - Opens the Chart Properties window to customize the appearance of the chart, including colors, fonts, and text size.
Note: The NinjaTrader User Guide found in the Help menu provides a wealth of detailed information regarding each of the chart features.