01
A control system for position building
Position Builder starts after you have decided what you want to own. Its job is to apply a repeatable process to additional buys and optional exits.
It can help you
- Run an average-down rule tied to the broker-reported average cost without watching prices all day.
- Control purchase size and projected position concentration.
- Choose which symbols receive available cash first.
- Pause, change, or manually run a strategy.
- Keep a reason for each action and each skipped decision.
It does not
- Choose, rank, or recommend investments.
- Decide whether a price decline is temporary.
- Predict market bottoms or future returns.
- Create diversification automatically.
- Replace your research or professional advice.
02
Microfolios organize your rules
A microfolio is a group of symbols that shares one strategy and one schedule. Give the group a name, add symbols, then set the rules once.
Two included
Every account starts with two microfolios. Rename them to match the way you already think about your positions.
One optional Flex
Unlocking Flex adds a third group with its own symbols, rules, and schedule.
Shared positions
If the same symbol appears in more than one microfolio, it becomes Hybrid. Alpaca still holds one combined broker position.
Adding a symbol places the first order
Position Builder first checks that the asset is tradable. If it is, adding the symbol submits a market buy for $1 of a US equity or $10 of eligible crypto. The symbol stays pending until Alpaca resolves that order.
Crypto needs an eligible /USD asset, an active crypto status, and the separate crypto agreement. A Hybrid symbol shares one broker position, which means more than one strategy can act on that same position.
03
Cash is shared across the account
Microfolios do not have separate cash balances or protected reserves. Every strategy draws from the available cash in the same linked brokerage account.
Automation uses cash, not margin
At the start of a cycle, Position Builder reads the account cash. Each accepted buy reduces what is left for the rest of that cycle. Automated buys are sized from cash, not margin buying power.
Fixed-dollar purchases
Each eligible buy asks for the dollar amount you saved. If the cycle does not have that much cash left, Position Builder skips the buy instead of quietly making it smaller.
Percentage purchases
Each eligible buy uses the percentage you saved, applied to the cash left at that point in the cycle. The result is rounded down to whole cents.
Why priority changes percentage sizing
Position Builder evaluates symbols from the top down. Say two symbols both qualify for a 20% buy and the cycle starts with $4,500 in cash. The first order asks for $900. That leaves $3,600, so the second asks for $720. Other microfolios use the same broker cash, but each one runs its own cycle.
04
One strategy governs each microfolio
The strategy answers four practical questions: how far below its average cost must a position be, how much should the next buy use, how large may the position get, and when should the rules run again?
Average-cost buy trigger
This compares the broker-reported position return with the loss percentage you set. If Alpaca reports an average entry price of $100 and you set 5%, another buy becomes eligible at a return of -5% or lower. After a filled buy changes the average entry price, later cycles use the updated value.
Position cap per symbol
A dollar cap sets the largest projected position value. A percentage cap uses a share of current account equity. Position Builder may reduce a buy to the whole-cent room left under the cap, or skip it if nothing fits.
Schedule
Choose every 15 minutes, hourly, every 3 or 12 hours, market open, or 10 minutes before the regular close. A schedule makes the cycle eligible to run. It is not a promise that an order will execute at an exact second.
Market availability
Equity orders wait for the regular US market session and market holidays. Eligible crypto can run outside equity hours, but it still depends on account eligibility, Alpaca availability, and current order state.
05
What happens during a cycle
A cycle moves through the microfolio from top to bottom. Each symbol has to pass the relevant checks before Position Builder submits an order.
- 1
Reconcile pending orders
First, Position Builder checks unresolved entries, exits, and re-entries. That keeps the rest of the cycle from acting on stale order state.
- 2
Check the position and trading session
The cycle needs a current broker position and valid numbers. Equity orders wait for regular market hours and stay paused on market holidays.
- 3
Evaluate an enabled exit
If auto-sell is on and the position reached its take-profit return, Position Builder considers the full exit before another average-down buy.
- 4
Compare the position with its average cost
If no exit is due, the broker-reported return must be at or below your negative average-cost trigger before another buy is eligible.
- 5
Check open orders, cash, and the cap
An open buy blocks a duplicate. The new order also has to fit the cash left in this cycle and the position cap you set.
- 6
Submit and record the decision
Position Builder records an accepted order immediately. It records skips and errors too, so you can see what the cycle decided and why.
If nothing happens, Position Builder still records why. Common reasons include an average-cost trigger not reached, no open position, a closed market, an existing order, not enough cash, a position cap, pending state, invalid broker data, or an order error. Paused strategies do not enter scheduled cycles.
06
Take-profit exits are optional
Auto-sell and auto re-entry belong to individual symbols. They do not change the average-down and sizing rules shared by the rest of the microfolio.
Auto-sell
When the broker-reported return reaches your take-profit percentage, Position Builder can submit a market sell for the full position. If a sell is already open, it does not submit another one.
Auto re-entry
Re-entry waits until the auto-sell fill is confirmed. A later cycle sizes the new entry using current cash, position-cap, and account data. Time alone does not trigger it.
If an exit is pending, fails, or only partly fills, Position Builder keeps the symbol in the matching lifecycle state. It does not pretend the position is gone. The next page load or cycle checks Alpaca again.
07
You remain in control
Automation runs the workflow you saved, but you can pause it, change it, or run a cycle yourself.
Pause or edit
Pause scheduled automation, change the strategy, reorder symbols, or adjust a symbol’s exit settings.
Run now
Start one cycle now. A manual run does not move the saved schedule, and it still works while scheduled automation is paused.
Change priority
Drag symbols into evaluation order. The top symbol gets the first chance to use the cash available to that cycle.
Sell and remove
Removing the last microfolio membership for a held symbol submits a full-position sell. Removing one Hybrid membership leaves the shared position open for the other microfolio.
08
Broker data and automation records stay together
Position Builder puts current broker data next to its strategy and action history, so the account state and the automation record use the same source values.
Overview
Account equity, cash, open positions, performance history, and recent automation activity.
Performance
Open-position returns, strategy allocation, and automation totals based on available broker and fill data.
Trade History
The latest broker orders, including side, size, status, submission time, and available fill details.
Documents
Broker-generated statements, tax forms, trade confirmations, and account records. This is not the help guide.
Some values stay unavailable until Alpaca reports them or an order has a verified fill and cost basis. Missing financial data stays missing. Position Builder does not turn it into a fake zero.
09
Understand the limits before you automate
Controls can prevent some workflow mistakes. They cannot remove investment risk, bad data, broker outages, or poor execution.
- A falling price may reflect permanent business deterioration, not a temporary opportunity.
- Repeated average-down purchases can concentrate capital in a losing position.
- Market orders can fill at a different price than the latest displayed observation.
- Broker outages, stale or unavailable data, pending orders, and market closures can delay or prevent an action.
- Crypto can be highly volatile and is not FDIC insured or protected by SIPC.
- Paper-trading results do not guarantee that a live account would receive the same fills or results.
Keep checking the company, your original reason for owning it, position size, available cash, and every enabled rule. If the plan changes, pause the strategy and change the rules with it.