Last updated on May 31st, 2024 at 03:50 pm
Why is gold so popular? Lots of reasons. The durability, malleability and conductivity of gold make it the most popular traded metal for a wide range of uses, from jewelry through to industrial uses. In terms of investing, this precious metal is a safe-haven type of asset in periods of financial turmoil and is a good asset with which to diversify a portfolio. Gold is better at retaining its value, whereas the value of currencies and stocks is more vulnerable to external situations such as economic crises, conflicts and other events.
The heavy trade in gold means there are several different strategies to go about it and make money from the trades. Below is a look at some of the main gold trading strategies, plus a discussion of the risks of trading gold, of the importance of trading gold on a reliable platform and of the necessity of a dependable trading strategy. BTW, if you are interested in trading in silver bullion, stay tuned for an upcoming article on the subject.
The Main Gold Trading Strategies
You can take different approaches to trading gold. Here are the main ones:
Position trading
When you’re trading stocks, the tendency is to follow company- and industry-related news. When you’re trading currencies, it’s normal to look at economic events. Gold is more complicated because geopolitical developments, fears of inflation and monetary policy can all cause shifts in gold prices. Position trading is good for medium- to long-term investment in gold.
News trading
News trading involves trading based on market expectations. A trade may follow a specific event, and the trader might even only hold a position for a few minutes or seconds. Unforeseen events can have a significant impact on gold prices, but so can scheduled events such as Federal Reserve meetings.
Price action
Price action trading entails making trading decisions based on movements in price. One of the major advantages of this is it’s possible to use this strategy across all timeframes.
Day trading
Day traders tend to focus on a specific session or time of the day and take advantage of opportunities. They make two or three good trades a day. Gold is highly liquid, the spreads are low and its volatility is high enough to create opportunities, which makes the metal excellent for day trading.
Trend trading
Trend trading is all about identifying opportunities in the direction of the trend. The thinking behind this is that the price of the commodity in question will keep moving in the same direction. The volatility of gold means that strong trends form from time to time.
The importance of a good trading platform
If you’re going to trade in gold, it’s essential to conduct your trading on a reliable platform such as a XAUUSD trading platform, which is often possible on forex trading platforms that offer gold trading too. In this case, the quote on the gold is in XAUUSD. Here’s why a good trading platform is important though:
The platform offers secure, stable trading
Since you’re operating in the financial world and dealing with potentially large sums of money or large values of commodities, security is the most important feature you must expect of a platform. When choosing a platform, check the broker is safe and regulated. If they are, they’re likely to be operating a secure trading platform as well.
You could be spending a lot of time on the platform
If you adopt a day trading strategy, you’re going to be spending a lot of time in front of the computer screen. The platform operators will have understood this and made the platform interface as user-friendly as possible. They’ll provide easy access to analysis tools so you can make trades or modify your position quickly.
You’ll have the tools to make the best trading decisions
You’ll need a variety of analytical tools to help you make your trading decisions. Whether you’re performing fundamental analysis or technical analysis, a good platform will place tools at your disposal so you can make the best decisions for your trades.
What makes a good strategy important when trading gold?
Strategy is hugely important when trading gold or any other commodities or investing in general. Devising a strategy will help you to identify the best opportunities and to know what to buy and when to buy it, as well as the right time to sell.
Investing, of course, is also about discipline. Devising a good strategy provides you with a plan that you can follow and from which you won’t deviate. Sticking to the plan is important in investment, although, admittedly, there are times when it’s appropriate to move away from it.
The risks of trading gold
For all good’s merits, gold still has its downsides for investors, especially when investing in physical gold. For one, it’s possible that someone could steal the gold, in which case you might prefer to hold shares in a company for investing in gold or gold mining company, rather than hold physical gold.
You might wish to buy gold coins as a way to hedge against inflation and make the most of the safety gold offers. Note, however, that if you do this, you won’t benefit from dividends or interest, since buying tangible gold isn’t an investment in company growth.
Gold creates exhilarating opportunities for trade, and it’s important to conduct your trading on a reliable platform. This makes the transaction more secure and also offers benefits such as analytical tools so that you can make the best trades possible.
