Breakout Trade Planner

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: preplace (stop-limit) vs postconfirm (limit after 5min confirmation)
• Portfolio risk contribution and cumulative heat

Minervini Gate (Filtering Criteria)

Candidates must pass ALL conditions:

| Condition | Pre-breakout | Breakout | |-----------|-------------|----------| | validvcp | True | True | | ratingband | good/strong/textbook | good/strong/textbook | | riskpctworst | <= 8.0% | <= 8.0% | | breakoutvolume | — | True | | distancefrompivot | — | <= maxchasepct | | currentprice | — | <= 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

Resources

• references/minervini_entry_rules.md — Entry methodology and rules

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: tradermonty
• Source: tradermonty/claude-trading-skills
• License: MIT
• Homepage: https://tradermonty.github.io/claude-trading-skills/

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.