XAUUSDGlobal Rooms
School of Gold

Stage 4: Vault, macro, events, plan and mind

What moves gold (real yields, the dollar, central banks), how CPI, NFP and FOMC days behave, expectancy, a written trading plan, trading psychology and the journal that holds it together.

Stage 4 of 412 steps6 lesson quizzesFree, no sign-up

The vault is where gold is kept safe, and stage 4 is about protecting what you have built: knowing why gold moves, staying out of the way of big releases or trading them with a plan, writing your rules down and keeping the habits that stop one bad day from undoing a good month.

By the end of this stage: A written one-page trading plan, a list of this week's high-impact releases in your time zone, your daily loss limit, and a journal you review every week.

Education, not signals. Nothing here tells you what to trade. Leveraged gold trading carries a high risk of loss: practise on a demo first.

Your progress in this stage

Work down the list in order. Tick a step when you have read it or used the tool. Lessons marked “Lesson + quiz” end with a five-question quiz; pass it (4 of 5) and the step ticks itself. When every step is ticked and you have passed the stage quiz at the bottom, you earn the Vault badge.

Your progress

0 of 13 steps done (lessons + stage quiz)

Vault badgeNot earned yet

Ticks are saved in this browser only (nothing is sent to us). Passing a lesson quiz ticks that lesson by itself. Moving to another device? Use the progress code.

The Vault stage, step by step

  1. Guide · 9 min readWhat Moves Gold Prices? The US Dollar, Yields, Inflation and the Fed
  2. Lesson + quiz · Advanced · 12 min readGold Intermarket Analysis: DXY, Real Yields, Silver, Oil, Equities and Central Banks for XAUUSD Traders
  3. Guide · 6 min readReal Yields and Gold: How the 10-Year TIPS Yield Moves XAUUSD
  4. Lesson + quiz · Advanced · 12 min readGold News Trading Strategy: A Playbook for FOMC, CPI, NFP and Other XAUUSD Events
  5. Lesson + quiz · Advanced · 10 min readEvent-Day Playbooks for Gold: FOMC, CPI and NFP Step by Step
  6. HubGold by event: the last 12 reactions
  7. Guide · 7 min readHow to Build a Trading Plan for XAUUSD
  8. Lesson + quiz · Intermediate · 13 min readTrading Math for Gold Traders: R-Multiples, Expectancy, Drawdowns and Position Sizing
  9. Lesson + quiz · Beginner · 17 min readTrading Psychology for Gold: Fear, Greed, FOMO, Tilt and the Routines That Protect You
  10. HubTrading psychology hub
  11. Lesson + quiz · Beginner · 9 min readGold Trading Journal Templates: What to Record and How to Review
  12. Free toolFree gold trade journal

Printable study notes for this stage

One-page notes in a hand-drawn notebook style, with a sketch diagram and the key lines highlighted. Print them or save them as PDF and keep them beside your screen.

Stage 4 quiz

The Vault stage quiz

Ten questions drawn from the lessons in this stage. Where a question says “the lesson”, it means the stage lesson it comes from. Score 8 of 10 or better to pass the stage quiz.

1Why do rising real yields tend to be a headwind for gold?
2How does the lesson say intermarket signals should be used?
3What is the core principle of news trading stated in the lesson?
4What sizing rule does the playbook set for event days?
5What is the lesson's key idea about solving psychology problems?
6What does the lesson identify as the usual root cause of fear in trading?
7What does the lesson call the single most effective defence against tilt?
8What is the breakeven win rate for a 2:1 reward-to-risk ratio, before costs?
9How much gain is needed to recover a 20% drawdown?
10Why does the lesson insist on a fixed list of mistake categories?

Answers and progress stay in this browser only (nothing is sent to us).

Where next

← Stage 3: BarGraduation and certificate

All four stages and your badges are on the School of Gold page. Prefer goal-based paths with practice tasks? See the free gold trading courses; every lesson quiz you pass counts in both.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to trade the news after stage 4?

No. Many traders finish stage 4 deciding to stay flat around CPI, NFP and FOMC. The point is to know when they are and what they can do to spreads and stops, whichever choice you make.

What do I get when I finish the vault stage?

The Vault badge and, once all four stages are complete, the free School of Gold graduation certificate. It is self-study recognition, not a regulated qualification.

Educational content only, not financial advice. Trading gold with leverage carries a high risk of loss.