Setting A Gold Trading Schedule and a Written Example

Gold is a market that is global in nature. The global nature of the xauusd market means that it is open around the clock throughout the week. Gold traders therefore have a lot of flexibility when it comes to choosing when to trade. However, not all times are suitable for placing transactions.

Investors should set up a schedule based on the most active Gold hours which are the best hours to help maximize profits.

USA & London market sessions are the most active times. These three marketmarket sessions make up the largest volumes of transactions from across the world on a daily basis, although Asia is one of these 3 sessions best not to trade during this particular market session.

There are also overlaps in the between the three marketmarket sessions, where two market sessions are open at the same time, these overlaps are the most active periods. These overlaps provide a great opportunity to trade in multiple markets at once and maximize your potential profits.

The best overlap is the one that occurs between the US & London markets. This is when the gold trading opportunities are the most active & more opportunities present themselves.

Asian session is the least active of the 3 major sessions. All trading instruments move slowly or consolidate at a single point throughout the session. This is not a good time to be in the xauusd market - this is the best time to take a break.

Because the trading day lasts all day and night and it isn't possible to stay up all night long, investors should set up a workable schedule. By gaining an understanding of these hours, trader can set appropriate hours to increase chances of maximizing profits.

When setting up a schedule, it should accomplish the following goals:

1. Familiarize yourself with the various market sessions. These are: New York market session, the London session, the Tokyo market session.

London Market Session - 3 A.M. - 12 P.M. EST ( 8:00 GMT to 1700 GMT. )

New York Session - 8 A.M. - 5 P.M. EST (1300 GMT to 2200 GMT.)

Tokyo Session - 7 P.M. - 4 A.M. EST (00:00 GMT to 9:00 GMT.)

2. Trade during this time when the prices are most active.

3. Plan a workable trading schedule. So as to keep a balance between your trading time & time to get adequate rest. Best time is between 3a.m. To 5p.m. EST

When the USA and UK sessions are both open xauusd prices will generally trend up or down & move a good number of pips in one direction. As a technical analyst, this time the indicators will provide good and profitable signals that catch the trend.

When the xauusd prices are trending and moving fast traders will find it much easier to make money.

On the other hand, during the other times for example the Asian session, the xauusd trading prices will be in a range movement and traders using technical indicators will have a hard time making profits as the indicators will generally tend to be more prone to whipsaws. One will find it difficult to make money in this range bound xauusd price action movements.

It is 10 times easier to make money when the xauusd market is moving up or moving down than it is to make money when it is ranging.

During the best times to open orders, i.e. 800 GMT and 1800 GMT the xauusd trading prices will gold trend in one direction, during other times like Asian Session, the xauusd trading prices likely to be Range Bound.

• London market session 08:00 GMT -16:00 GMT.
• US session 13:00 GMT - 22:00 GMT.
• Asian session is a relatively slow for all instruments & not suitable at all.

Basically your plan should target 800 GMT and 1800 GMT as the time that you trade gold.

Example of a Schedule on a XAUUSD Trading Plan

The example illustrated and explained below shows how to specify your routine and time of day to watch the gold market. This will form the basis of your schedule. The time frame that you use will also be specified and mostly it will depend on what type of trader you are. The time set for this example is during the day when the UK and USA sessions are open as shown on the xauusd example illustrated & explained below.

Written Gold Trading Schedule - Gold Trading Plan Sections