Multi-Instrument Data Series on Tick-Based Chart - Secondary Instrument Bars Not Advancing

Desktop SDK - Strategies
1

I’m developing a strategy that trades ES on a 967-tick primary chart and want to add NQ as a secondary data series for inter-market confluence checking. However, I’m experiencing issues where the NQ data series loads successfully but CurrentBars[nqBarIndex] remains at -1 and never advances.

Setup:

  • Primary Chart: ES on 967 Tick bars
  • Strategy uses Calculate.OnBarClose
  • Successfully added multiple ES data series (HTF 3-minute, ADT 1-tick) - these work fine
  • Attempting to add NQ data series in State.Configure:

csharp

AddDataSeries("NQ 12-24", BarsPeriodType.Tick, 967);

What Works:

  • BarsArray shows NQ loaded: BarsArray[2] = NQ DEC24 (Tick 967)
  • NQ indicators initialize successfully (SuperTrend, MACD, ADX)
  • OnBarUpdate includes check: if (BarsInProgress != 0) return;

What Doesn’t Work:

  • CurrentBars[2] stays at -1 indefinitely
  • NQ indicators have no data to calculate from
  • Diagnostic shows: BIP=0, CB[0]=3010, CB[1]=893, CB[2]=-1, CB[3]=2912000

Question: Is there a NinjaTrader limitation with adding different instruments as secondary data series on tick-based primary charts? If not, what’s the correct approach to get NQ bars advancing alongside ES?

I’ve tried both 3-minute and 967-tick timeframes for NQ with the same result. ES-based secondary series work perfectly, only the different instrument (NQ) fails to process bars.

Any guidance would be appreciated!