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Glossary

Gold trading glossary: 150 XAUUSD terms

Every term a gold trader meets, from pip and lot to fair value gap and COMEX, defined in plain English with a worked gold example and the mistake to avoid.

About this glossary

Gold trading has a vocabulary of its own, borrowed from forex, futures, the physical bullion trade and, more recently, the Smart Money and ICT communities. The same word can mean different things in each: a pip is $0.10 on one platform and $0.01 on another, a rollover is a nightly swap to a spot trader and a contract-month change to a futures trader, and liquidity is either a tight spread or a cluster of stop orders depending on who is speaking. This glossary explains 150 of those terms as they apply to XAUUSD, the price of one troy ounce of gold in US dollars.

Every term has its own page with a plain-English definition, a worked gold example using round hypothetical prices, the mistake we see most often around it, two or three FAQs and links to the lesson, tool or guide on this site that goes deeper. Terms are grouped into ten areas below, from prices and contract maths through risk, macro drivers and chart analysis to the physical and futures markets, and every page links to its neighbors in the same group. The A–Z index at the bottom lists all 150 alphabetically.

Facts about contracts and institutions, such as the 100-ounce COMEX contract, the 31.1035-gram troy ounce or the FOMC's meeting schedule, come from the exchanges and official bodies named in each entry. Worked numbers are illustrations, not market data or recommendations. If you are new to gold, start with the 50-term quick glossary and the What is XAUUSD? guide, then come back here when a word in a lesson stops you.

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The 50-term quick glossary

One page, one line per term, for the basics. Then use the pages here when you need the full picture.

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12 terms

Prices & quotes

How gold is quoted and how the quote moves: the symbol, the ounce, the spread, pips and points, gaps and spikes.

Bid, ask and spread

The bid is the price you can sell at, the ask is the price you can buy at, and the spread between them is the cost paid on every gold trade.

Also: Bid/offer, Spread cost

Gap

A gap is a jump between one traded price and the next with no trades between, seen on gold at the Sunday open, after the daily break and on news.

Also: Price gap, Opening gap

News spike

A news spike is the sharp, fast move in gold in the seconds after a scheduled release such as CPI, NFP or an FOMC decision, often with wide spreads.

Also: Data spike, Event volatility

Pip

A pip is a small unit of price change; on gold most platforms treat $0.10 as a pip and $0.01 as a point, but definitions vary, so check yours.

Also: Pipette

Point

A point is the smallest price increment a platform displays for gold, usually $0.01; some platforms call this a pipette and reserve pip for $0.10.

Also: Pipette, Tick (platform)

Spot gold

Spot gold is the price for gold bought or sold for near-immediate settlement, usually two business days, as opposed to a futures price for later delivery.

Also: Spot price, Cash gold, Loco London

Tick

A tick is the minimum price change of an instrument; COMEX gold futures move in $0.10 ticks worth $10 per contract, while XAUUSD usually ticks in $0.01.

Also: Minimum price fluctuation, Tick size

Troy ounce

A troy ounce is the weight unit gold is priced in: 31.1034768 grams, about 10% heavier than the ordinary avoirdupois ounce of 28.35 grams.

Also: oz t, Fine ounce

Volatility

Volatility measures how much and how fast gold's price moves; realized volatility looks back at actual ranges, implied volatility is priced into options.

Also: Realized volatility, Historical volatility

Weekend gap

A weekend gap is the difference between Friday's close and Sunday's reopen in gold, caused by news that arrives while the market is shut.

Also: Sunday gap, Monday gap

Whipsaw

A whipsaw is a sharp move in one direction followed quickly by a reversal, stopping out traders on both sides; common on gold around news and session opens.

Also: Two-way spike, Shakeout

XAUUSD

XAUUSD is the price of one troy ounce of gold quoted in US dollars; XAU is the ISO currency code for gold and USD is the US dollar.

Also: XAU/USD, Gold spot, Gold vs US dollar
14 terms

Contract maths

The arithmetic behind every position: lots, contract size, leverage, margin, equity and the overnight swap.

Contract size

Contract size is the number of troy ounces in one lot of a gold contract, commonly 100 oz for XAUUSD and COMEX GC, and sets the dollar value of each move.

Also: Contract specification, Lot specification

Equity

Equity is the real-time value of a trading account: balance plus floating profit and minus floating loss on open gold positions.

Also: Account equity, Net liquidation value

Free margin

Free margin is equity minus used margin: the part of a gold account still available to absorb losses or open new positions.

Also: Available margin, Usable margin

Leverage

Leverage lets you control a gold position worth many times your deposit; 100:1 means $4,000 of margin controls $400,000 of gold, magnifying gains and losses.

Also: Gearing, Margin ratio

Lot

A lot is the unit of trade size; on most platforms one standard lot of XAUUSD is 100 troy ounces, so a $1 move in gold equals $100 per lot.

Also: Standard lot, Lot size

Margin

Margin is the deposit a platform locks up to keep a leveraged gold position open, equal to the notional value divided by the leverage ratio.

Also: Used margin, Initial margin, Required margin

Margin call

A margin call is a platform's warning that your margin level has fallen to a set threshold, often 100%, and that further losses may trigger a stop-out.

Also: Margin warning

Margin level

Margin level is equity divided by used margin, shown as a percentage; platforms issue margin calls and stop-outs when it falls to set thresholds.

Also: Margin ratio, Equity-to-margin

Mini and micro lot

A mini lot is 0.10 of a standard lot (usually 10 oz of gold) and a micro lot is 0.01 (usually 1 oz); they let small accounts size risk precisely.

Also: 0.10 lot, 0.01 lot, Fractional lot

Notional value

Notional value is the full market value of a gold position (price × ounces), the amount you are actually exposed to even though margin is a fraction of it.

Also: Position value, Exposure

Pip value

Pip value is the money one pip (or point) is worth for your position size; on a 100-oz gold lot each $0.01 is $1 and each $0.10 is $10.

Also: Point value, Tick value

Stop-out

A stop-out is the automatic closing of positions by a platform when the margin level falls to its stop-out threshold, such as 50% or 20%.

Also: Forced liquidation, Auto-close

Swap and rollover

Swap, or rollover, is the daily charge or credit for holding a leveraged gold position overnight, applied at the platform's rollover time.

Also: Overnight fee, Financing charge, Rollover interest

Triple swap

Triple swap is the day each week, usually Wednesday for gold, when three nights of swap are charged at once to cover the weekend settlement days.

Also: Triple rollover, Wednesday swap, Weekend swap
11 terms

Orders & execution

The orders you place and how they fill, plus the account types used to learn and trade.

Cent account

A cent account denominates the balance in cents rather than dollars, so a $50 deposit shows as 5,000 cents and a 0.01 lot of gold risks one cent per point.

Also: Micro account, Nano account

Commission

Commission is a fixed fee per lot charged on some gold accounts in exchange for a tighter spread; it is paid per side or per round turn.

Also: Round-turn commission, Per-lot fee

Demo account

A demo account is a practice account with virtual money and live gold prices, used to learn a platform and test a method before risking real funds.

Also: Practice account, Paper trading

Limit order

A limit order buys gold below or sells above the current price, at your chosen level or better; it controls the price but may never fill.

Also: Buy limit, Sell limit, Pending order

Market order

A market order buys or sells gold immediately at the best available price; it guarantees a fill but not the price, so slippage is possible in fast markets.

Also: Instant execution, Market execution

Slippage

Slippage is the difference between the price you expected for a gold order and the price it actually filled at, common around news and at the open.

Also: Price improvement (positive slippage), Fill difference

Stop order

A stop order buys gold above or sells below the current price once that level trades, becoming a market order; used for breakouts and for stop-losses.

Also: Buy stop, Sell stop, Stop entry

Stop-loss

A stop-loss is an order that closes a gold position at a set price to cap the loss; it guarantees an exit, not the exact price, in fast or gapping markets.

Also: SL, Protective stop

Swap-free account

A swap-free account charges no overnight interest on gold positions, often replacing it with a fixed administration fee after a set number of days.

Also: Islamic account, Zero-swap account

Take-profit

A take-profit is an order that closes a gold position at a chosen target price, locking in the gain without the trader having to be at the screen.

Also: TP, Profit target

Trailing stop

A trailing stop is a stop-loss that follows price at a set distance as a gold trade moves into profit, locking in gains while leaving room to run.

Also: Trailing stop-loss, Dynamic stop
19 terms

Risk & money

Sizing, drawdown, expectancy and the habits that keep an account alive, including prop-firm rules and testing.

Backtest

A backtest applies a trading method's rules to past gold price data to estimate its win rate, expectancy and drawdown before risking money on it.

Also: Historical test, Strategy backtesting

Beta

Beta measures how much one asset moves for a given move in another; silver's beta to gold is above 1, so it tends to move more than gold in percentage terms.

Also: Market beta, Sensitivity

Correlation

Correlation measures how closely two markets move together, from +1 to −1; gold is often negatively correlated with the dollar index and real yields.

Also: Correlation coefficient, Intermarket relationship

Daily loss limit

A daily loss limit is the most an account may lose in one trading day before trading stops; prop firms enforce it, and disciplined traders set their own.

Also: Daily drawdown, Max daily loss

Drawdown

Drawdown is the fall in account equity from a peak to a subsequent low, in percent or dollars; maximum drawdown is the largest such fall on record.

Also: Maximum drawdown, Peak-to-trough decline

Expectancy

Expectancy is the average amount a trading method wins or loses per trade over many trades, combining win rate with average win and average loss.

Also: Expected value per trade, Edge

FOMO

FOMO, the fear of missing out, drives traders to chase a gold move after it has happened, entering late with a poor stop and a worse risk-reward ratio.

Also: Fear of missing out, Chasing

Forward test

A forward test trades a method's rules in real time on a demo, cent or small live account to confirm that backtest results hold under live conditions.

Also: Paper trading, Out-of-sample test, Demo trial

Funded account

A funded account is capital, real or simulated, allocated to a trader by a prop firm after an evaluation, traded under drawdown rules for a share of profits.

Also: Funded trader account, Prop account

Hedging

Hedging is holding an offsetting position to cut exposure, such as shorting gold futures against physical holdings; on one XAUUSD account it mostly adds cost.

Also: Hedge, Offsetting position

Position sizing

Position sizing is choosing the lot size so that a stop-loss hit loses exactly the planned risk: lots = risk in dollars ÷ (stop distance × contract size).

Also: Lot sizing, Trade sizing

Prop firm

A prop firm offers traders access to a funded account after an evaluation, keeping part of the profit and enforcing daily loss and drawdown rules.

Also: Proprietary trading firm, Funded trader program

R multiple

An R multiple expresses a trade's result as a multiple of the initial risk: a trade risking $100 that makes $250 is +2.5R, one that loses $100 is −1R.

Also: R, Risk unit, 1R

Risk of ruin

Risk of ruin is the probability that a trading method, at a given risk per trade and win rate, loses enough of the account that recovery is impractical.

Also: Probability of ruin, Blow-up risk

Risk per trade

Risk per trade is the amount of the account, usually a fixed percentage such as 0.5% to 1%, that a single gold trade can lose if the stop is hit.

Also: Fixed fractional risk, Percent risk

Risk-reward ratio

The risk-reward ratio compares what a gold trade risks to the stop against what it targets; a $10 stop and a $30 target is 1:3, or a 3R trade.

Also: Reward-to-risk, RR, R:R

Tilt and revenge trading

Tilt is the emotional state after a loss or a missed move in which a trader abandons the plan; revenge trading is taking impulsive trades to win the loss back.

Also: Tilt, Revenge trading, Emotional trading

Trading journal

A trading journal records every gold trade with its setup, risk, result in R and the reasoning, so that win rate, expectancy and mistakes can be measured.

Also: Trade log, Trading diary

Win rate

Win rate is the share of gold trades that close in profit; on its own it says nothing about profitability until it is combined with average win and loss.

Also: Hit rate, Strike rate, Percentage profitable
17 terms

Macro drivers

What moves gold from outside the chart: the Fed, inflation data, real yields, the dollar and official demand.

Central bank buying

Central bank buying is gold bought by national central banks for their reserves; it has been a major source of demand and a support for the price.

Also: Official sector demand, Reserve purchases

CPI

CPI is the US Consumer Price Index, the monthly headline inflation report released at 8:30 a.m. Eastern; it is one of the biggest scheduled movers of gold.

Also: Consumer Price Index, US inflation report, Core CPI

Dot plot

The dot plot is the FOMC chart showing where each policymaker expects the fed funds rate to be at year-end; shifts in the median dot can move gold sharply.

Also: Summary of Economic Projections, SEP dots, Fed projections

DXY

The DXY is the US dollar index, measuring the dollar against six major currencies; gold is priced in dollars and often, not always, moves opposite to it.

Also: US dollar index, Dollar index, USDX

Fed funds rate

The fed funds rate is the US overnight interest rate set as a target range by the FOMC; it anchors dollar yields and, through them, the gold price.

Also: Federal funds rate, US policy rate, Fed rate

FOMC

The FOMC is the Federal Reserve committee that sets US interest rates at eight scheduled meetings a year; its decisions and press conferences move gold.

Also: Federal Open Market Committee, Fed meeting, Fed decision

Geopolitical risk

Geopolitical risk is the chance that conflict, sanctions or political shocks disrupt markets; gold often gains a short-lived premium when such risk rises.

Also: Geopolitical premium, Risk premium, Event risk

Gold ETF

A gold ETF is an exchange-traded fund backed by bullion in a vault, such as GLD; its share price tracks gold and its inflows and outflows gauge investor demand.

Also: GLD, Gold-backed ETF, SPDR Gold Shares, ETF flows

Gold/silver ratio

The gold/silver ratio is the gold price divided by the silver price: how many ounces of silver buy one ounce of gold; traders use it to compare the two metals.

Also: Gold-silver ratio, GSR, Mint ratio

Hawkish and dovish

Hawkish means a central bank leans toward higher rates or tighter policy, which tends to weigh on gold; dovish means easier policy, which supports it.

Also: Hawk, Dove, Policy tone

Inflation hedge

An inflation hedge is an asset expected to keep its purchasing power as prices rise; gold has done so over decades but not reliably over months or years.

Also: Store of value, Purchasing-power protection

NFP

NFP is the US non-farm payrolls report, released at 8:30 a.m. Eastern usually on the first Friday of the month; it is one of the most volatile events for gold.

Also: Non-farm payrolls, US jobs report, Employment Situation

PCE

PCE is the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, the Fed's preferred inflation measure, released monthly; core PCE guides rate expectations and gold.

Also: Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, Core PCE, Fed's preferred inflation gauge

Real yields

Real yields are bond yields minus expected inflation; because gold pays no interest, rising real yields usually weigh on gold and falling ones support it.

Also: Real interest rates, Inflation-adjusted yields

Risk-on and risk-off

Risk-on and risk-off describe market mood: risk-on favors equities and high-yield currencies, risk-off favors havens such as the dollar, bonds and, often, gold.

Also: RoRo, Risk sentiment, Risk appetite

Safe haven

A safe haven is an asset investors buy during crises; gold is the classic example, though its haven bid competes with the dollar and with rate effects.

Also: Haven asset, Flight to safety

TIPS

TIPS are US Treasury bonds whose principal adjusts with CPI; their yield is the market's real interest rate and a key reference for gold's opportunity cost.

Also: Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities, Inflation-linked bonds
23 terms

Chart analysis

Levels, trends, indicators and patterns as they behave on XAUUSD.

ADR

ADR, the average daily range, is the mean distance from high to low over recent days; it tells a gold trader how far a typical day travels.

Also: Average daily range, Daily range

ATR

ATR, the Average True Range, measures gold's typical bar-to-bar range including gaps; traders use it to size stops and judge whether a day is quiet or wild.

Also: Average True Range, Average true range

Bollinger Bands

Bollinger Bands plot a 20-period moving average with bands two standard deviations above and below; on gold they show volatility squeezes and stretched moves.

Also: Bollinger Bands®, Volatility bands

Breakout

A breakout is a move through a support, resistance or range boundary, often with expanding volatility; false breakouts are common on gold, so confirm first.

Also: Break, Range break, Momentum breakout

Candlestick

A candlestick shows a period's open, high, low and close as a body and wicks; patterns like pin bars and engulfing candles are common gold entry triggers.

Also: Candle, Japanese candlestick, OHLC bar

Channel

A channel is two parallel trendlines containing a trend; gold traders buy near the lower line in an up-channel, target the upper line, and watch for breaks.

Also: Price channel, Parallel channel, Trend channel

Consolidation and range

A consolidation or range is a period when gold trades between a defined high and low without trending; mean reversion inside, breakouts at the edges.

Also: Range, Sideways market, Balance, Mean reversion

Divergence

Divergence occurs when gold's price makes a new high or low but a momentum indicator such as RSI or MACD does not, warning that the move is losing force.

Also: RSI divergence, Momentum divergence, Hidden divergence

Double top and double bottom

A double top is two failed attempts at the same high then a break of the low between them; a double bottom is the mirror; both are gold reversal patterns.

Also: M pattern, W pattern, Twin peaks

EMA and SMA

An SMA weights every close equally; an EMA weights recent closes more, so it turns faster; gold traders choose by how quickly they want the average to react.

Also: Exponential moving average, Simple moving average

Fakeout

A fakeout is a breakout that fails: gold moves through a level, triggers orders, and then reverses back through it, trapping traders who entered on the break.

Also: False breakout, Failed break, Bull trap / bear trap

Fibonacci retracement

Fibonacci retracement divides a gold swing into ratio levels (38.2%, 50%, 61.8%, 78.6%) where pullbacks are watched for continuation entries.

Also: Fib levels, Fibonacci ratios, 61.8% retracement

MACD

MACD is the difference between a 12- and 26-period EMA, with a 9-period signal line; gold traders use crossovers and histogram shifts to read momentum.

Also: Moving Average Convergence Divergence, MACD histogram

Moving average

A moving average smooths gold's price by averaging the last N closes; it shows trend direction and acts as dynamic support or resistance on pullbacks.

Also: MA, Rolling average

Multi-timeframe analysis

Multi-timeframe analysis reads gold from the higher timeframe down: trend and levels on the daily and 4-hour, entries on the 15-minute or lower.

Also: MTF analysis, Top-down analysis

Pivot points

Pivot points are support and resistance levels calculated from the prior day's high, low and close; gold traders use them as session reference levels.

Also: Floor pivots, Daily pivots, R1/S1 levels

Retest

A retest is price returning to a level it just broke, where old resistance acts as new support or the reverse; a lower-risk entry after a gold breakout.

Also: Pullback to the level, Break and retest, Role reversal

RSI

RSI, the Relative Strength Index, measures the speed of recent gains against losses on a 0–100 scale; gold traders use it for momentum, divergence and extremes.

Also: Relative Strength Index, Momentum oscillator

Support and resistance

Support is a price area where gold has repeatedly stopped falling; resistance is where it has repeatedly stopped rising; on gold they are zones, not lines.

Also: S/R, Key levels, Zones

Swing high and swing low

A swing high is a bar whose high is above the bars either side; a swing low the reverse; they define gold's structure, trendlines, stops and Fibonacci anchors.

Also: Swing point, Pivot high/low, Fractal

Trendline

A trendline connects successive swing lows in an uptrend or swing highs in a downtrend, giving a diagonal support or resistance line that gold often respects.

Also: Trend line, Diagonal support/resistance

Volume profile

A volume profile shows how much volume traded at each price over a period; its point of control and value area mark where gold found acceptance.

Also: Market profile, Point of control, Value area

VWAP

VWAP is the volume-weighted average price of a session; gold day traders use it as a fair-value line, buying pullbacks above it and selling rallies below it.

Also: Volume-weighted average price, Session VWAP, Anchored VWAP
22 terms

Smart money & ICT

The liquidity-based vocabulary: structure, order blocks, fair value gaps, sweeps and the ICT time models.

BOS

A BOS, or break of structure, is price closing beyond the previous swing high in an uptrend or swing low in a downtrend, confirming the trend continues.

Also: Break of structure, Structure break

Breaker block

A breaker block is a former order block that failed and was traded through; it then flips role, and gold often retests it from the other side before continuing.

Also: Breaker, Failed order block

CHoCH

A CHoCH, or change of character, is the first break of structure against the prevailing trend, such as a lower low in an uptrend, hinting at reversal.

Also: Change of character, Market structure shift, MSS

Dealing range

A dealing range is the swing from a significant low to a significant high (or the reverse) that ICT traders use to define premium, discount and targets.

Also: Trading range (ICT), Swing range

Displacement

Displacement is a fast, large-bodied move that breaks structure and leaves a fair value gap; on gold it separates genuine breakouts from liquidity sweeps.

Also: Impulsive move, Expansion, Energetic candle

Equal highs and lows

Equal highs or lows are two or more swing points at nearly the same price; in Smart Money terms they are liquidity pools gold tends to sweep before reversing.

Also: EQH, EQL, Double top liquidity, Relative equal highs

Fair value gap

A fair value gap is a three-candle pattern where the first and third candles' wicks do not overlap, leaving a price gap that gold often returns to fill.

Also: FVG, Imbalance, Price inefficiency

Imbalance

An imbalance is a stretch of price gold moved through quickly with one-sided trading, leaving an inefficiency; fair value gaps are its most common form.

Also: Inefficiency, Buy-side imbalance / sell-side inefficiency, BISI / SIBI

Inducement

Inducement is a minor swing point just before a key zone that tempts early entries; price takes it, triggering those stops, before reaching the real level.

Also: IDM, Trap liquidity, Minor liquidity

Judas swing

A Judas swing is the false move at a session open, often the London open on gold, that sweeps one side of the overnight range before the true direction emerges.

Also: False move, Opening fake, Manipulation leg

Killzone

A killzone is an ICT time window when institutional activity and volatility are highest, such as the London open and New York open, when gold setups are sought.

Also: Kill zone, ICT killzone, London killzone, New York killzone

Liquidity

In Smart Money terms, liquidity is the cluster of stop and pending orders resting beyond obvious highs and lows, which price tends to seek before reversing.

Also: Resting orders, Buy-side liquidity, Sell-side liquidity, Liquidity pool

Liquidity sweep

A liquidity sweep is a quick push through an obvious gold high or low that triggers the stops resting there, followed by a reversal back inside the range.

Also: Liquidity grab, Sweep, Raid, Stop run

Market structure

Market structure is the sequence of swing highs and lows: higher highs and higher lows define an uptrend in gold, lower highs and lower lows a downtrend.

Also: Structure, Trend structure, HH/HL and LH/LL

Mitigation block

A mitigation block is a failed order block formed without a liquidity sweep: the swing failed to make a new high or low before breaking, and the zone flips.

Also: Mitigation, Failed-swing block

Order block

An order block is the last opposing candle before a strong move that breaks structure; gold traders mark it as a zone where price may return and react.

Also: OB, Bullish order block, Bearish order block

OTE

OTE, the optimal trade entry, is the 62% to 79% Fibonacci retracement zone of an impulsive gold swing, where ICT-style traders look for continuation entries.

Also: Optimal trade entry, 62–79% retracement

Power of three (AMD)

Power of three, or AMD, is the ICT model of a session in three phases: accumulation in a range, manipulation that sweeps one side, then distribution.

Also: PO3, Accumulation-manipulation-distribution, AMD

Premium and discount

Premium and discount divide a gold swing at its 50% level: the upper half is premium (sell zone), the lower half discount (buy zone), the midpoint equilibrium.

Also: Premium array, Discount array, Equilibrium

Silver bullet

The silver bullet is an ICT setup traded in three one-hour windows (3–4 a.m., 10–11 a.m., 2–3 p.m. New York), entering a fair value gap after a liquidity sweep.

Also: ICT silver bullet, Silver bullet window

SMT divergence

SMT divergence is when gold and a correlated market such as silver or the dollar index disagree at a high or low, suggesting one of the moves is a sweep.

Also: Smart Money Technique divergence, Intermarket divergence, Correlated-pair divergence

Stop hunt

A stop hunt is a move that pushes gold just far enough beyond a level to trigger clustered stop-losses before reversing; the same event as a liquidity sweep.

Also: Stop run, Stop-loss hunting
10 terms

Sessions & timing

When gold moves: Asia, London and New York, the daily break, clock changes and the main trading styles.

Asian range

The Asian range is the high and low gold builds during the Asian session before London opens; its edges are the first liquidity London usually tests.

Also: Asian session range, Tokyo range, Overnight range

Daily break

The daily break is the roughly one-hour pause in gold trading around 5 p.m. New York time, when swaps are charged, spreads widen and the daily candle closes.

Also: Rollover hour, Market close, 5 p.m. New York close

Day trading

Day trading means opening and closing gold positions within the same session, avoiding overnight swap and weekend gaps while relying on intraday structure.

Also: Intraday trading, Session trading

Daylight saving shift

The daylight saving shift is the few weeks each spring and autumn when US and European clocks change on different dates, moving gold's session times by an hour.

Also: DST change, Clock change, Summer time shift

London close

The London close, around 4–5 p.m. London time, is when European desks square positions; gold often reverses or pauses as liquidity shifts to New York alone.

Also: London fix (3 p.m.), European close, London close killzone

London open

The London open, around 8 a.m. London time, is when gold's volume and range expand after the Asian session; it often sets the day's first directional move.

Also: London session, European open, London killzone

New York session

The New York session, from about 8 a.m. Eastern, brings US data at 8:30, the COMEX open at 8:20 and the London overlap; it is gold's most volatile stretch.

Also: US session, New York open, COMEX session

Position trading

Position trading holds gold for weeks to months on weekly and daily charts, driven by macro themes; swap costs make leveraged spot a poor vehicle for it.

Also: Long-term trading, Trend following (long horizon)

Scalping

Scalping is taking many short gold trades that each aim for a few dollars of movement, held for seconds to minutes, where spread and execution dominate results.

Also: Scalp trading, Short-term trading

Swing trading

Swing trading holds gold positions for days to weeks to capture a larger move, trading from 4-hour and daily charts and paying swap and gap risk in return.

Also: Multi-day trading, Position swing
11 terms

Physical gold

Bars, coins and jewelry: purity, local weights, premiums, duties and the London bullion market.

Bullion

Bullion is gold in bar or coin form valued by its metal content rather than as jewelry or collectibles; it is the physical market that spot prices reference.

Also: Investment gold, Bars and coins, Physical gold

Fineness

Fineness states gold purity in parts per thousand: 999.9 is 99.99% pure; bullion bars and coins are stamped with it, and the gold price applies to fine content.

Also: Purity, Millesimal fineness, 999.9 fine

Gram and 10-gram pricing

Gram and 10-gram pricing is how retail gold is quoted in India, Europe and much of Asia; divide the troy-ounce price by 31.1035 to get the price per gram.

Also: Price per gram, Per 10 grams, Gold rate

Import duty

Import duty is the tax a country charges on gold crossing its border; it lifts local gold prices above the international price and shapes demand and smuggling.

Also: Customs duty on gold, Gold import tax

Karat

A karat is a measure of gold purity in 24ths: 24K is pure gold, 22K is 91.7% gold, 18K is 75%; the gold price applies to the fine gold content only.

Also: Carat (gold purity), 24K, 22K, 18K

LBMA

The LBMA is the London Bullion Market Association, the trade body that sets the Good Delivery bar standard and oversees the London gold price auction.

Also: London Bullion Market Association, Loco London, Good Delivery

London fix

The London fix is the twice-daily benchmark gold price, now the LBMA Gold Price auction at 10:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. London time, used to settle physical contracts.

Also: LBMA Gold Price, Gold fixing, AM fix / PM fix

Making charges

Making charges are the fee a jeweler adds for crafting an item, as a percentage of the gold value or a per-gram rate; they are lost on resale.

Also: Labor charges, Fabrication charges, Wastage

Paper gold vs physical

Paper gold is a claim on gold's price (CFDs, futures, ETFs, unallocated accounts) rather than metal in hand; physical gold is bullion you own outright.

Also: Paper gold, Unallocated gold, Allocated gold, Synthetic gold

Sovereign and coin premium

A coin premium is what a gold coin such as a sovereign costs above its melt value at spot; it covers minting and distribution and rises when demand is strong.

Also: Coin premium, Premium over spot, Numismatic premium

Tola

A tola is a traditional South Asian gold weight of 11.6638 grams (0.375 troy ounces), still used for pricing and bars in India, Pakistan, Nepal and the Gulf.

Also: Tola gold, Tola bar, Vori / bhori
11 terms

Futures & options

COMEX, the futures curve, positioning data and options on gold.

Backwardation

Backwardation is when spot gold or the nearest futures month trades above later months, a rare sign of physical tightness or demand for immediate delivery.

Also: Inverted curve, Negative carry, Spot premium

Basis

The basis is the difference between the gold futures price and the spot price; it reflects interest and storage to delivery and is traded via EFPs.

Also: Spot-futures spread, Cash-futures differential, EFP

COMEX

COMEX is the CME Group exchange in New York where the benchmark gold futures (GC, 100 oz) and options trade; its open and volume drive gold's US session.

Also: CME Group metals, New York gold futures exchange

Contango

Contango is when gold futures trade above spot and later months above nearer ones, reflecting interest and storage costs; it is gold's normal state.

Also: Forward premium, Positive carry curve

COT report

The COT report is the CFTC's weekly breakdown of gold futures positions by trader type, published Fridays for the prior Tuesday; it shows who holds what.

Also: Commitments of Traders, CFTC positioning report, Disaggregated COT

GC futures

GC futures are the COMEX gold contract: 100 troy ounces, $0.10 ticks worth $10, with February, April, June, August, October and December the active months.

Also: COMEX gold futures, Gold futures contract, MGC micro gold

Implied volatility

Implied volatility is the market's expected future volatility for gold, derived from option prices; it rises before events like FOMC and falls once they pass.

Also: IV, Option-implied volatility, GVZ

Managed money

Managed money is the COT report category for hedge funds, CTAs and other money managers; its net gold position is the standard measure of speculation.

Also: Speculators, Hedge funds and CTAs, Large speculators

Open interest

Open interest is the number of gold futures contracts outstanding; rising OI with rising price confirms new money, falling OI signals liquidation.

Also: OI, Outstanding contracts

Options on gold

Options on gold give the right, not the obligation, to buy (call) or sell (put) gold at a strike by an expiry; they trade on COMEX futures and gold ETFs.

Also: Gold options, OG options, Calls and puts on gold

Roll

A roll closes a gold futures position in the expiring month and reopens it in a later month to keep exposure without delivery; the cost is the month spread.

Also: Rollover (futures), Contract roll, Roll yield

A–Z index

All 150 terms in alphabetical order.

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

R

S

T

V

W

X

Frequently asked questions

How is this glossary different from the 50-term glossary article?

The article gives one-line definitions for the 50 most common terms on a single page. This glossary has 150 terms, and each has its own page with a fuller definition, a worked gold example, a common mistake, FAQs and links to the lesson or tool that covers it in depth.

Are the numbers in the examples real market prices?

No. Worked examples use round hypothetical prices such as $4,000 an ounce so the arithmetic is easy to follow. Contract facts, such as 100 ounces per COMEX contract or 31.1035 grams per troy ounce, come from the exchanges and standards bodies named in each entry.

Can I suggest a term?

Yes. Email the term and where you met it to the address on our contact page. We add terms that readers ask about and that are not already covered.