breakout-trade-planner

---
name: breakout-trade-planner
description: Use when the user has VCP (volatility contraction pattern) screener results and wants Minervini-style breakout trade plans with entry/stop/target levels and position sizing.
category: Technical
version: 1.0.0
tools: []
---

# Breakout Trade Planner

Generate trade plans from VCP (volatility contraction pattern) screener output, following Mark Minervini's breakout methodology: calculate position sizes from worst-case entry prices, enforce portfolio risk limits, and describe entry/stop/target order structures.

## When to Use

- The user has VCP screener output and wants trade plans
- The user asks for breakout entry/stop/target calculation
- The user needs order-template guidance for VCP breakout candidates
- The user needs position sizing with portfolio heat management

## Methodology

**The Minervini Gate.** A candidate is only actionable if ALL of these hold:

| 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 |

**Position sizing.** Size every position from the *worst-case* entry price (not the ideal signal price), so risk is never understated if the fill is worse than expected. Default parameters: base risk per trade 0.5% of account equity, max single position 10% of account, max sector exposure 30%, max total open portfolio risk (heat) 6%, target 2.0R take-profit, 1.0% stop buffer below the contraction low, max chase above pivot 2.0%, pivot buffer for the buy-stop trigger 0.1%.

**Two execution modes:**
- *Pre-place* — a stop-limit bracket order placed ahead of the breakout, triggering automatically if price clears the pivot
- *Post-confirm* — a limit bracket placed only after live confirmation (e.g. ~5 minutes of holding above the pivot with volume), for a more conservative entry

**Portfolio constraints.** Reject or defer candidates that would push single-position size, sector exposure, or total portfolio heat above the configured caps — cumulative heat across all open positions must stay under the ceiling.

## Output

For each candidate, bucket into: Actionable (pre-breakout candidates ready for order templates), Revalidation (breakout-state candidates needing live confirmation), Watchlist (developing VCP setups to monitor), and Rejected/Deferred/Constrained (filtered by the Gate or portfolio limits). For each actionable order, explain signal vs worst-case entry, stop-loss placement, R-multiple target and reward-risk ratio, which execution mode applies, and the position's risk contribution to total portfolio heat.