ATM (Advanced Trade Management) Strategies in NinjaTrader Desktop allow you to automatically place Stop Loss and Take Profit orders and add optional automation such as breakeven and trailing stops. They help make trade management faster and more consistent.
Below is everything you need to know when using ATM Strategies with a Tradovate-backed Top One Futures trading account.
What Are ATM Strategies? (Quick Overview) ⚙️
ATM Strategies allow you to predefine:
🎯 Take Profit
🛑 Stop Loss
🧮 Trade quantity
↗️ Auto Breakeven
📉 Auto Trail (trailing stop)
🔁 OCO behavior
🗂️ Multi-target layouts
💾 Saved ATM templates
They are completely optional. You can trade manually or use ATMs for convenience and consistency.
⚠️ ATM Strategies Are 100% Client-Side
This is the most important thing to understand.
ATM Strategies do not run on the server.
They do not run on Tradovate.
They run only on your local NinjaTrader Desktop.
Because of this, ATM features work only when NinjaTrader Desktop is open, running, and connected.
If your NinjaTrader Desktop isn’t running, the ATM cannot calculate, or send any instructions to the server.
Example 1: Trade Is Active → ATM placed TP/SL → You disconnect
You enter a trade and your ATM strategy immediately places a Stop Loss and Take Profit.
Those orders are now on the server, so they stay active.
But, if you have any of these, they will be impact when you are disconnected in any way:
The trailing stop will stop trailing
The breakeven trigger will not activate
No further ATM updates will happen
Many other features not updating
Your original TP and SL that was placed will stay as they have been received by the server, but all automation stops.
Example 2: You Place a Limit Order → You Disconnect → The Order Fills
This scenario is very important, because many traders assume ATM Strategies will still trigger even if they disconnect.
They will not.
Here is exactly what happens:
1️⃣ You place a limit order with an ATM Strategy selected
(placed limit orders are server-side, so they are received on Tradovate’s server)
2️⃣ NinjaTrader Desktop disconnects
(computer off, platform closed, sleep mode, internet drop, etc.)
3️⃣ Price reaches your limit order → the order fills on the server
4️⃣ But… your ATM Strategy never activates, because NinjaTrader Desktop wasn’t connected at the moment of the fill.
This means:
❌ No Stop Loss is submitted
❌ No Take Profit is submitted
❌ No OCO is created
❌ No trailing or breakeven can run
❌ Your trade is unprotected
The platform must be online at the moment the order fills in order for ATM instructions to be sent.
To keep ATM Strategies working correctly, your computer must remain:
✔ Turned on
✔ Connected to the internet
✔ Running NinjaTrader Desktop
✔ Not in sleep / hibernation mode
✔ Not disconnected
Top One Futures Disclaimer
Top One Futures is not responsible for ATM Strategies failing due to:
Internet disconnection
Closing NinjaTrader Desktop
Device shutdown
Platform crashes
Sleep/hibernation mode
Power outages
Any local device issues
ATM logic is fully client-side and depends entirely on the trader’s system and
connection.
Recommended Safety Tip
Always verify that your Stop Loss and Take Profit are active on the Tradovate Web Platform:
If TP/SL orders do not appear there, they are not active, and your ATM Strategy did not send them to the server.
Any other features that updates these orders (trailing stop, auto-breakeven, etc. will not work when disconnected to Ninjatrader Desktop, even when the TP/SL orders are
correctly placed on the server-side.
Learn More About ATM Strategies
For a full breakdown of every ATM feature, please see NinjaTrader’s official documentation:
This explains all ATM tools in detail, including Auto Breakeven, Auto Trail, Shadow Strategy, and more.