Gold is a favourite instrument for many traders, and one of the easiest to get wrong on size. The price is quoted in dollars per ounce, positions are measured in lots, and a move that looks small on the chart can be large in dollars. This guide works through the numbers on a $50,000 account, so you can size gold trades within the rules before you place them.
Where gold is and how it is quoted
- Gold trades as XAU-USD under the Forex tab of the web terminal, and as XAUUSD on MT5 if you chose MT5 at checkout. It is available on futures accounts; spot accounts trade crypto only.
- One lot = 100 ounces. The smallest size is 0.01 lot (1 ounce), in steps of 0.01.
- The price is in dollars per ounce. With gold around $4,000, every $1 move is worth $100 on 1 lot, $10 on 0.1 lot and $1 on 0.01 lot.
The quick formula: profit or loss = ounces × dollar move. A 0.25 lot position (25 oz) that moves $12 is worth $300, in either direction.
The two limits that shape a gold position
1. The 2% limit on a single trade. No position may lose more than 2% of account equity, and no position may be opened with more than 2% at risk between its entry and its stop. On a $50,000 account that is $1,000. Positions in the same instrument are counted together, so two gold tickets are one position for this rule.
2. The size cap of 2× the starting balance (web platform). The total value of your positions in one instrument cannot exceed twice the account's starting balance. On $50,000 that is $100,000 of gold: at $4,000 an ounce, 25 ounces, or 0.25 lot (a little less as the price rises). An order above the cap is rejected when you place it. On MT5 the broker's own maximum per order applies instead; the 2% rule applies on both platforms.
On gold, the second limit often applies first. Here is why.
Worked example: a $50,000 account
Say you plan to risk 1.5% on a gold trade, which is $750. That leaves room below the 2% limit for a stop that fills a little worse than its level. The size then depends on how far away the stop is:
- Stop $10 away: $750 ÷ $10 = 75 oz (0.75 lot). That is worth about $300,000, three times the size cap. The web platform would reject it; the most you can open is 0.25 lot, which risks $250 (0.5%).
- Stop $30 away: $750 ÷ $30 = 25 oz (0.25 lot). Worth $100,000, right at the cap. Risk $750 (1.5%).
- Stop $50 away: $750 ÷ $50 = 15 oz (0.15 lot). Worth $60,000. Risk $750 (1.5%).
Two things to take from this:
- With tight stops, the size cap is your limit, not the 2% rule. At the maximum 0.25 lot, each $1 of gold is worth $25, so a $40 stop at that size is exactly 2%. At full size, keep the stop within about $30–35 to leave a margin.
- Size from the stop, never the other way round. Decide first where the trade is wrong, then work out the ounces. Moving the stop further away to fit a bigger size only raises the risk.
The general method is in our guide to position sizing and the 2% rule.
When gold moves fastest
Gold trades almost around the clock from Sunday evening to Friday evening, with a short daily pause around the New York close. It is not equally busy all day:
- The Asian session is usually the quietest.
- London's open, and the hours when London and New York are open together (the London afternoon), carry most of the volume and most of the large moves.
- US data releases move gold hard: inflation (CPI), the jobs report (NFP) and Federal Reserve decisions are the classic ones. No position may be open from five minutes before to five minutes after a high-impact release. The calendar is in your portal, and the details are in trading around high-impact news.
When gold is paused or closed, its price stops updating and new gold orders are held until live prices return. Gold is closed from Friday evening to Sunday evening; how that affects a position you hold, including the Monday gap, is covered in weekend trading at a prop firm. More on sessions: market hours and trading sessions.
How gold fills
Positions open and close at the bid and ask, not at the chart's last price: a long closes at the bid, a short at the ask. Gold has one of the tightest spreads on the platform, alongside BTC and ETH, but the spread is never zero. A stop-loss is a trigger for a market order: once the price reaches your level and holds it on two consecutive updates, the position closes at the best available price. In a fast move that price can be beyond your level, which is one more reason to keep the planned risk below 2%.
Daily limits on a busy gold day
Your equity cannot fall more than 4% below its level at 00:00 UTC on any day, and the overall limit is 6%. On $50,000, the daily limit is $2,000. At 0.25 lot, $2,000 is an $80 move in gold, which can happen on a heavy data day. Several gold trades in one day add up, so before each new one, check how much of the day's 4% you have already used.
A pre-trade checklist for gold
- Where is the stop, and how many dollars away is it?
- Ounces = planned risk ÷ stop distance. Is the risk under 2%, with room to spare?
- Is the total value under 2× your starting balance (web platform)?
- Is a high-impact US release due in the next hour?
- How much of today's 4% have you already used?
Full rules: driftfund.io/rules.
All Drift Fund accounts run in a simulated environment used to evaluate trading skill: no real assets are bought or held for the trader, and payouts are performance-based rewards paid by Drift Fund. Trading involves risk.