How to Journal Gold Trades

Practical guide: Keep a decision log that can be audited

Gold (XAUUSD) trading requires you to distinguish the underlying market from your broker’s CFD. Always check ounces, the contract multiplier, USD pricing and spread in the actual symbol specification. Gold is also sensitive to real yields, US dollar direction and macro expectations, though relationships are not constant.

Trading context: The instrument described here is usually offered as a broker CFD. The underlying index or metal does not determine your personal contract size; verify the exact broker symbol, costs and trading permissions.

Hands-on walkthrough

1. Before every Gold (XAUUSD) paper trade, record the timestamp/timezone, chart regime, trigger, stop, target and planned risk in dollars.
2. After execution, record actual fill, spread, slippage, closing reason and a screenshot without altering the original thesis.
3. After at least 20 observations, calculate average R, frequency of rule violations and whether losing days cluster around events.

Worked example or practice scenario

Sample log entry: 14:30 UTC, buy pullback, 0.5R planned risk, event within 10 minutes; mark “no trade” because the prewritten rule prohibits trading immediately before major data. A valid skip belongs in the journal too.

What can go wrong

A journal written only after winning trades is not evidence of a viable strategy.

Before you act

Include skipped setups and losses to reduce hindsight bias.

Editorial note (14 November 2026): This educational expansion was prepared with AI assistance using the existing TigerEdge guide and publicly available official documentation. It has not been independently tested against every broker account variant. Check live platform specifications before making financial decisions.