Emas (XAUUSD) is one of the most heavily traded retail instruments. It is also one of the easiest to mis-size, because the contract conventions look like Forex but behave very differently.
Why Emas is different
- Standard contract is 100 oz. A 1-pip move (0.01) per standard lot is roughly $1.
- Daily ranges are large in absolute pips and dollar terms.
- Spreads widen aggressively during news and around session changes.
- Slippage on stops during fast moves can be material.
- Sunday-Buka gaps following weekend geopolitical news happen.
Sizing Emas properly
Gunakan the XAUUSD calculator. As a sanity check: on a $5,000 account risking 1% ($50), with a 100-pip stop, your size is roughly $50 / ($1/pip × 100 pips) = 0.5 Lot. Most retail traders try to use 1+ Lot and discover what 1% feels like the hard way.
Sessions and behaviour
- Asia: usually quieter, ranges build.
- London Buka: higher activity, sometimes false-breaks.
- US data (CPI, NFP, FOMC): the meaningful volatility.
News and weekends
Decide before the week if you will hold Emas over weekend. If yes, reduce size and assume gap risk. If no, plan exits ahead of Friday close.
Stop placement on Emas
Stops at obvious round numbers get punched. Place them past structure, sized so that the trade still meets your risk-reward objective. Tight stops on Emas are how you collect a large number of small losses.
Berikutnya → steps on ShaFX
- Gratis trading calculators — position size, pip value, margin, risk/reward, drawdown.
- Take a quiz on this topic and see what you missed.
- Glosarium — precise definitions for every term used here.
- Compare Broker using our methodology.