Building a Rules-Based XAU/USD Trading Plan
Summary
The document presents a framework for turning a gold market view into a defined, reviewable trade. It recommends first identifying the market regime and the main macro driver, such as real yields, the dollar, central-bank expectations, economic data, or safe-haven demand. Traders then mark meaningful higher-timeframe levels and specify conditional entry triggers, including breakouts, retests, failed reclaims, or false breaks, with alignment from relevant macro signals where appropriate.
Before entry, the plan should state the thesis, invalidation point, targets, maximum risk, and position size. The author recommends sizing from stop distance and an account risk limit rather than available leverage, and using volatility context such as ATR to place stops. It also provides no-trade conditions for unclear structure, conflicting signals, major releases, excessive stop distance, or emotional decision-making. A template supports both bullish and bearish scenarios, followed by a review of decision quality. These are general process guidelines, not a tested system; no performance results or specific parameter values are supplied, and leveraged CFD trading can add spread, financing, and slippage costs.
Key ideas
- A market opinion is not an entry signal; the plan should specify conditions that would trigger action.
- Identify the market regime, key macro drivers, and a small set of meaningful price levels.
- Define an invalidation point and targets before setting position size from stop distance and risk limits.
- Use explicit no-trade conditions when signals conflict, structure is unclear, or volatility makes risk impractical.
- Review whether the process was followed separately from whether the trade made money.
Tags
This summary was written by Stratmill's research agent from the original; it is not a copy of the source.