Automated strategy · NinjaTrader 8 · 4 min read
Pullback Sniper
Waits for price to pull back against the move, then enters as the pullback turns — optionally only in the direction of the EMA trend.
- NinjaTrader 8 name
- ToredaPullbackStrategy
- Built on
- Pullback Candles
- Modes
- One
What it does
Pullback Sniper trades the signals from the Pullback Candles indicator: short, swing-confirmed pullbacks at the moment they turn back the other way.
- Long — a brief dip that sets a fresh short-term low and then turns back up. With the bull EMA filter on, only when price is above its EMA.
- Short — a brief rally that sets a fresh short-term high and then turns back down. With the bear EMA filter on, only when price is below its EMA.
Qualifying pullbacks can come back to back. The one-position-at-a-time rule keeps them from stacking up into several trades.
Inputs
| Input | Default | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Direction | Both | Long / Short / Both — which signals to take. |
| Bull EMA Length | 50 | EMA period for the bull-side trend filter. |
| Bear EMA Length | 50 | EMA period for the bear-side trend filter. |
| Use Bull EMA Filter | Off | When on, a bull pullback only counts if the signal bar closes above EMA(Bull EMA Length) — buy pullbacks in an uptrend only. |
| Use Bear EMA Filter | Off | When on, a bear pullback only counts if the signal bar closes below EMA(Bear EMA Length). |
Turn the EMA filters on for live trading
With both filters off (the default) the pattern fires in any regime, including counter-trend, which is the noisiest configuration. The EMA filters are the biggest selectivity knob this strategy has.
Shared inputs
Brackets, session guards, confluence filters and one-position-at-a-time handling come from the base every Sun Engine strategy is built on. These are the inputs that matter most.
| Risk input | Default | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Contracts | 1 | Order quantity for every entry. |
| Stop Unit / Stop Ticks | Ticks / 40 | Protective stop distance. Switch Stop Unit to ATR to use Stop ATR Mult (1.5) × ATR(14) instead. |
| Target Unit / Target Ticks | Ticks / 80 | Profit target distance. ATR mode uses Target ATR Mult (3.0). |
| Use Breakeven | Off | Moves the stop to entry once the trade is Breakeven Trigger Ticks (40) in profit. |
| Use Trail | Off | Tick trail at Trail Ticks (40). Breakeven and trail only ever tighten the stop, never loosen it. |
| Session input | Default | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Use Time Window | Off | When on, entries are allowed only between Window Start (09:30) and Window End (15:30). |
| Use Flatten Time | On | Flattens any open position and stops trading at 15:55. |
| Max Trades Per Day | 0 | 0 = unlimited. |
| (built in) | — | NT8's own exit-on-session-close is also enabled, 30 seconds before the close, as a backstop. |
All session times are in Session Tz, America/New_York by default. Filters are all off out of the box; when one is on, an entry is skipped unless every enabled filter passes.
| Filter | Rule |
|---|---|
| Quarter | Allow-list of AM/PM Q1–Q4 on the 06:00–18:00 session grid. Anything outside that grid is blocked even with all eight flags on, by design. |
| Sunrise | Price must be within Sunrise Zone Tolerance Ticks (0) of a live sunrise zone from Sunrise Cities (NYC, LON, TYO, DXB, AKL) no older than Sunrise Max Age Days (12). Any of the 18 cities can be listed, whatever the indicator's chart defaults are. |
| SMT | Requires a same-direction SMT divergence within SMT Lookback Bars (20) against SMT Symbol A, and optionally SMT Symbol B. |
SMT filter: set Symbol A to a real contract
The ES ##-## default is only a placeholder. Enter the actual contract you want to compare against, e.g. ES 12-26, or the filter has no reference series to work with.
How to run it
- Chart. Open your instrument on the bar period you want the pattern read on. The pattern is short, so faster charts produce many more signals. Calculate is On Bar Close; leave it.
- Attach. Right-click the chart → Strategies… → add ToredaPullbackStrategy, set the inputs, and tick Enabled. Bars Required To Trade is 30, so nothing fires until 30 bars have loaded.
- Backtest. Control Center → Strategy Analyzer → pick the strategy, instrument and period. Optimizations run quickly; Bull/Bear EMA Length, the two EMA filters, Stop Ticks and Target Ticks are the natural knobs.
- Visual check. The strategy draws nothing. Add the ToredaPullback indicator to the same chart with matching EMA settings and turn on its markers and MA plots to see exactly which bars fire.
Don't trade the defaults
The defaults are a starting point, not a tested configuration — in the backtests they lost money on most instrument and timeframe combinations. Start from the settings on the instrument pages below, and in simulation.
Behavior to expect
- One trade at a time. A signal that arrives while in a position, or while an entry is waiting to fill, is ignored rather than queued.
- Entries are market orders on bar close; the stop and target are attached the instant the entry fills.
- Order signal names are
PBLong/PBShort, with stop/target suffixes added by the base. - An entry that never fills is released after a timeout, with a message in the Output window. Flattening a position by hand also clears the strategy's state so it can trade again.
- Watch the NinjaScript Output window (Control Center → New → NinjaScript Output): every declined or timed-out entry and every filter problem is printed there.
Results by instrument
Pullback Sniper was backtested on six micro futures, August 2024 to September 2026, and every recommended setting was confirmed in NinjaTrader's own Strategy Analyzer with commission. Pick an instrument for its results, the exact settings, and whether we'd use it there.
MNQ
Micro Nasdaq-100
- Net
- +$8,618
- PF
- 1.21
- Max DD
- $1,244
In the combined account
MYM
Micro Dow
- Net
- +$5,044
- PF
- 1.27
- Max DD
- $1,186
In the combined account
SIL
Micro Silver
- Net
- +$38,805
- PF
- 1.63
- Max DD
- $6,395
In the combined account
MES
Micro E-mini S&P 500
- Net
- +$3,694
- PF
- 1.22
- Max DD
- $963
MGC
Micro Gold
- Net
- +$2,292
- PF
- 1.16
- Max DD
- $807
MCL
Micro Crude Oil
- Net
- +$874
- PF
- 1.33
- Max DD
- $583
Backtest results are hypothetical. They were produced with the benefit of hindsight on historical data, do not represent actual trading, and cannot fully account for slippage, liquidity or the emotional pressure of live trading. Past performance is not indicative of future results. This content is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice. Trading futures involves substantial risk of loss. See our risk disclosure for details.