Pre-Market Signal Engine — Operational Playbook

This is the file the routine runs. Follow it in order. Each step has a clear stop condition.

0. Read configuration

Always start by reading:

• config/stocks.json — the universe
• config/runtime.json — risk caps, thresholds, Slack channel, timezone
• templates/slack-output.md — output format

Do not proceed until all three load successfully.

1. Macro kill-switches (check first, fail fast)

Pull these via Alpha Vantage MCP or web_search:

Check	Condition to stop	Source
VIX level	> runtime.vix_max (default 30)	Alpha Vantage GLOBAL_QUOTE symbol ^VIX
FOMC day	Today is on the Fed calendar	web_search: "FOMC meeting today"
CPI release	Today is CPI release day	web_search: "US CPI release date this week"
NFP release	Today is jobs day	web_search: "US non-farm payrolls release date this week"

If any fire: post the kill-switch Slack message from templates/slack-output.md, then stop. Do not analyze tickers.

2. Earnings blackout (per-ticker)

For each ticker, call Alpha Vantage EARNINGS_CALENDAR (3-month horizon). If the ticker has earnings within 3 trading days in either direction of today, exclude it from analysis and note it in the Slack footer.

3. Data pull per surviving ticker

For each ticker that passes the earnings blackout, fetch from Alpha Vantage MCP:

What	Alpha Vantage function	Why
Daily OHLCV (260 days)	TIME_SERIES_DAILY	Trend, support/resistance, gap analysis
Hourly OHLCV (last 5 days)	TIME_SERIES_INTRADAY interval=60min	Entry refinement only
EMA 20 / 50 / 200 daily	EMA time_period=20/50/200	Trend alignment
RSI 14 daily	RSI time_period=14	Momentum
MACD daily	MACD (12,26,9)	Momentum crossovers
Bollinger Bands daily	BBANDS time_period=20	Volatility squeeze
ATR 14 daily	ATR time_period=14	Stop-loss sizing
VWAP intraday	VWAP	Institutional anchor
News sentiment	NEWS_SENTIMENT tickers=	Sentiment score

Also pull once per run (not per ticker):

• SPY and QQQ daily (TIME_SERIES_DAILY) — market direction
• ^VIX quote — already pulled in step 1
• DXY quote — dollar strength context

If any required call returns null/error for a ticker, skip that ticker and add it to the failures list.

4. Apply the 10-module framework

Read each file under framework/ and apply it. Each module outputs a directional read for the ticker:

• 01-trend-analysis.md
• 02-momentum.md
• 03-price-action.md
• 04-volume.md
• 05-volatility.md
• 06-macro.md
• 07-sentiment.md
• 08-earnings-events.md (already partially applied in step 2)
• 09-multi-timeframe.md
• 10-statistical-patterns.md

5. Confluence score

Roll the 10 modules into 6 confluence categories (this is the gate):

Category	BUY confirms when
Trend	Price > EMA20 > EMA50 > EMA200 (bull stack)
Momentum	RSI 40–65 AND MACD bullish cross or above signal
Volume	Today's volume > 20-day avg AND rising on up-days
Price action	Recent support hold OR clean breakout with retest
Macro	SPY & QQQ futures green AND VIX < 20
Sentiment	Alpha Vantage news sentiment ≥ 0.15 AND no major negative headlines

Decision rule:

• 5–6 confirms → HIGH confidence BUY
• 4 confirms → MEDIUM confidence BUY (smaller size note)
• ≤3 confirms → WAIT (no signal output)

6. Risk gate (must pass to issue BUY)

Compute:

• Stop: entry − (1.5 × ATR14)
• Target: entry + (3.0 × ATR14)
• Risk:reward: must be ≥ runtime.min_rr (default 1:2)

If R:R fails, downgrade to WAIT.

7. Post to Slack

Use the Slack connector. Channel = runtime.slack_channel_id. Format = templates/slack-output.md. Use markdown that Slack will render correctly (no HTML tags). Always include:

DO not update anything into stock files or this repo during the run. This is an output-only engine.

Just post exactly same template-based message to Slack, with the BUY signals and the "also watching" list. Do not post any other messages during the run.

Never change the template file.

8. Hard rules — never violate

These come from section 9 of the original spec:

• Never issue a signal within 3 trading days of earnings
• Never claim guaranteed profits — include the risk note in the Slack message
• Never issue more than 3 concurrent signals
• Never skip macro checks
• Never issue a signal on fewer than 4 confirming categories
• Never issue a signal with R:R below 1:2
• Never execute trades — this is a signal engine, output only
• Never commit anything to this repo during a run
• Never post signals to Slack other than slackoutput template

9. End the run

Post the Slack message. Done. Do not loop. Do not start another analysis pass. Exit cleanly.