Feature guide · 4 min read
Quarterly Theory Lines
Draws vertical dividers every 90 minutes from 06:00 to 16:30 in the session timezone, splitting the day into eight labelled quarters.
- Settings toggle
- Enable Quarterly Theory Lines
- NinjaTrader 8 name
- ToredaQuarterly
- Ships enabled
- No
What it does
Draws the session-quarter grid: vertical lines at 06:00, 07:30, 09:00, 10:30, 12:00, 13:30, 15:00 and 16:30 in the session timezone, each labelled AM Q1–Q4 / PM Q1–Q4.
It keeps `Days Back` days of past grids and, once the chart reaches its last bar, projects `Days Forward` days into the future. The indicator is purely visual — it draws the grid and nothing else.
How to read it
The grid gives every bar a fixed address in the day. Rather than eyeballing "late morning", you can say a setup happened in AM Q3 and mean the same 90 minutes every session — which is what makes behavior comparable from one day to the next.
The filter works without the indicator
Nothing is read from the indicator itself. The quarter filter calls a shared helper directly, so it works whether or not this is on your chart. Adding it just makes the grid the filter is already using visible.
Inputs
| Input | Default | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Session Timezone | America/New_York | Timezone the 06:00–16:30 anchors are read in. |
| Line Color / Width / Style | White 70% / 1 / Dashed | Divider line styling. |
| Label Color | White 40% | Quarter label color. |
| Days Back | 1 | Past session days whose grids are kept. Older ones are removed first-in, first-out. |
| Days Forward | 1 | Future session days projected from the last bar. |
| Label Location | Top | Labels at the top or bottom of the visible price range. |
| Label Lookback | 100 | Bars scanned to find the high/low that positions the labels. |
| Draw Visuals | On | Master drawing switch. |
Adding it to a chart
- Right-click the chart → Indicators… → find ToredaQuarterly, click Add, set the inputs, click OK.
- Color inputs shown as #RRGGBB are typed as hex text, e.g. `#6FA8DC`. An invalid value falls back to a default and prints a note in the NinjaScript Output window rather than failing the indicator.
- Works on any bar period. The lines are time-anchored, so they land on the right minute on fast charts and on the containing bar on slow ones.
Notes and limitations
- The grid covers 06:00–18:00 only. Time outside it belongs to no quarter, which is why a quarter filter blocks entries there even with all eight quarters allowed.
- Labels are re-positioned only on the last bar, so on a scrolled-back chart they sit where the range was when that day was drawn.
For strategy builders
NinjaTrader 8 only
Every plot is registered transparent, so it changes nothing on a chart until you color it in the indicator dialog. Levels are NaN when there is no value — never 0, which would compare as a real price — and flags are 1/0.
| Plot | Meaning |
|---|---|
| InSession | 1 between 06:00 and 18:00 session time. |
| IsAm | 1 in the AM half, 0 in the PM half or out of session. |
| Quarter | 1–4 within the half, 0 out of session. |
| QuarterIndex | 1–8 across the whole day (AM Q1 = 1 … PM Q4 = 8), 0 out of session. One condition row instead of two. |
| MinutesIntoQuarter | 0–89 elapsed in the current quarter, NaN out of session. |
| IsNewQuarter | 1 on the first bar of a quarter. An event, not state — the index wraps 8→1, so Crosses Above cannot express the change. |
| QuarterOpen / High / Low | The running open, high and low of the current quarter. NaN out of session. |
This content is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice. Trading involves substantial risk of loss. See our risk disclosure for details.