Gold (XAUUSD) is one of the most heavily traded retail instruments. It is also one of the easiest to mis-size, because the contract conventions look like forex but behave very differently.
Why gold is different
- Standard contract is 100 oz. A 1-pip move (0.01) per standard lot is roughly $1.
- Daily ranges are large in absolute pips and dollar terms.
- Spreads widen aggressively during news and around session changes.
- Slippage on stops during fast moves can be material.
- Sunday-open gaps following weekend geopolitical news happen.
Sizing gold properly
Use the XAUUSD calculator. As a sanity check: on a $5,000 account risking 1% ($50), with a 100-pip stop, your size is roughly $50 / ($1/pip × 100 pips) = 0.5 lots. Most retail traders try to use 1+ lots and discover what 1% feels like the hard way.
Sessions and behaviour
- Asia: usually quieter, ranges build.
- London open: higher activity, sometimes false-breaks.
- US data (CPI, NFP, FOMC): the meaningful volatility.
News and weekends
Decide before the week if you will hold gold over weekend. If yes, reduce size and assume gap risk. If no, plan exits ahead of Friday close.
Stop placement on gold
Stops at obvious round numbers get punched. Place them past structure, sized so that the trade still meets your risk-reward objective. Tight stops on gold are how you collect a large number of small losses.
Next steps on ShaFX
- Free trading calculators — position size, pip value, margin, risk/reward, drawdown.
- Take a quiz on this topic and see what you missed.
- Glossary — precise definitions for every term used here.
- Compare brokers using our methodology.