Breakout Trade Planner

Generate trade plans from VCP screener output following Mark Minervini's breakout methodology. Calculate position sizes using worst-case entry prices, enforce portfolio risk limits, and output Alpaca API-compatible order templates.

When to Use

• User has VCP screener JSON output and wants trade plans
• User asks for breakout entry/stop/target calculation
• User wants Alpaca order templates for VCP breakout candidates
• User needs position sizing with portfolio heat management

Prerequisites

• VCP screener JSON output with schema_version: "1.0"
• No API keys required (works with local JSON files)
• No external skill dependencies (position sizing is built-in)

Workflow

Step 1: Generate Trade Plans

Run the planner with VCP screener output:

python3 skills/breakout-trade-planner/scripts/plan_breakout_trades.py \
  --input reports/vcp_screener_YYYY-MM-DD.json \
  --account-size 100000 \
  --risk-pct 0.5 \
  --output-dir reports/

Step 2: Review Output

Read the generated JSON and Markdown reports. Present:

1. Actionable Orders — Pre-breakout candidates with order templates
2. Revalidation — Breakout-state candidates needing live confirmation
3. Watchlist — Developing VCP candidates to monitor
4. Rejected/Deferred/Constrained — Candidates filtered by Gate or portfolio limits

Step 3: Explain Trade Plans

For each actionable order, explain:

• Entry levels (signal vs worst-case) and stop-loss placement
• R-multiple targets and reward-risk ratio
• Two execution modes: pre_place (stop-limit) vs post_confirm (limit after 5min confirmation)
• Portfolio risk contribution and cumulative heat
• Broker and intraday constraints: these templates are planning artifacts, not broker permission. If the plan could create same-day round trips or use margin, confirm the user's broker-specific intraday/day-trading controls. FINRA replaced the old pattern-day-trader day-count and $25,000 minimum-equity requirements with intraday margin standards effective 2026-06-04, with broker phase-in allowed through 2027-10-20.

Minervini Gate (Filtering Criteria)

Candidates must pass ALL conditions:

Condition	Pre-breakout	Breakout
valid_vcp	True	True
rating_band	good/strong/textbook	good/strong/textbook
risk_pct_worst	<= 8.0%	<= 8.0%
breakout_volume	—	True
distance_from_pivot	—	<= max_chase_pct
current_price	—	<= worst_entry

CLI Parameters

Parameter	Default	Description
--account-size	(required)	Account equity in dollars
--risk-pct	0.5	Base risk % per trade
--max-position-pct	10.0	Max single position %
--max-sector-pct	30.0	Max sector exposure %
--max-portfolio-heat-pct	6.0	Max total open risk %
--target-r-multiple	2.0	Take-profit R-multiple
--stop-buffer-pct	1.0	Stop buffer below contraction low
--max-chase-pct	2.0	Max chase above pivot
--pivot-buffer-pct	0.1	Pivot buffer for buy-stop trigger
--current-exposure-json	None	Existing portfolio exposure

Output

• breakout_trade_plan_YYYY-MM-DD_HHMMSS.json — Structured plans with order templates
• breakout_trade_plan_YYYY-MM-DD_HHMMSS.md — Human-readable report

Exchange Calendar and Replay

Install requirements.txt before running the planner. --as-of accepts either YYYY-MM-DD (00:00 America/New_York) or an offset-bearing ISO-8601 timestamp. Plan validity uses the current not-yet-closed XNYS session or the next real session after a close, weekend, or exchange holiday.

Resources

• references/minervini_entry_rules.md — Entry methodology and rules