NinjaTrader 8 Video Instruction Guide for Beginners

Learning how to day trade isn’t easy. The first thing you have to learn is how to operate the trading software that you’ll use to place trades. For that, we use software called NinjaTrader. We use the eighth (8) version, which is the latest and greatest. You can download it on the NinjaTrader website and sign up for a special written guide here. The video below will walk you through all the basic steps, from installation to placing your first (simulated) trade.

When you first download NinjaTrader, you’ll get a traditional setup executable program. Proceed with the default installation steps unless you want to make a few customizations. Next, you’ll notice there are two icons on your Windows Desktop: NinjaTrader 32-bit and NinjaTrader 64-bit. You’ll probably want to use the 64-bit version unless you have a really old computer. The 64-bit version takes advantage of additional computer resources available on more modern computers. Feel free to delete the 32-bit NinjaTrader icon if the 64-bit version works for you.

Once NinjaTrader loads up for the first time, you’ll see a screen that asks for connection information. Essentially, it’s asking you to plug in a data feed. A data feed is how you get live market (price) data into NinjaTrader. NinjaTrader does not come with live data by default, so you must use another source, such as a free live data feed or a data feed from a broker account that you set up (which probably won’t be the case for a while). Later in the video, you’ll see how to set up a free live data feed. This free data feed will allow you to practice futures trading. This is about as close as you can get to practicing with real money. NinjaTrader gives you a ton of “play” or “simulated” money to work with. You use the internal, practice Sim101 account to place your simulated trades. After a while, you can see how you’re doing in terms of profit and loss by generating a report. That’s covered toward the end of the video.

One of the main focuses is opening a chart and navigating charts. You need to be able to see and understand the visual representation of price data over time. That’s what a chart is. The candles represent price activity, or price action, over a period of time. There are many ways to express or understand price data and movement – yes, many types of charts exist. In the beginning, you’ll probably want to use a 5-Minute chart type. It’s the long-standing chart type that has been used at DayTradeToWin.

Much more could be said. Really, you’re better off watching the video. It’s a great update to a NinjaTrader 8 training video that DayTradeToWin produced a couple of years ago. Good trading!