What does MAE tell me about my stops?

If profitable trades regularly approach your stop before working, the stop is too tight for current gold volatility.

What does MFE tell me about my targets?

If trades consistently reach far beyond your exit level, your target rule is leaving measurable profit on the table.

Should MAE and MFE be recorded in R or dollars?

In R, so the values stay comparable between low-volatility weeks and high-volatility ones on XAUUSD.

Do I need a synced journal to track them?

It is far easier, since intra-trade highs and lows are captured automatically rather than reconstructed by hand.

WHAT ARE MAE AND MFE?

MAE, maximum adverse excursion, is the furthest a trade moved against the position before it closed, while MFE, maximum favourable excursion, is the largest unrealised profit it reached. Together they provide the most direct available evidence on whether gold stops and targets are correctly placed, because they describe what happened inside the trade rather than only at its endpoints.

Winning XAUUSD trades that repeatedly approach the stop before working indicate stops too tight for current volatility, and trades reaching two and a half R of favourable excursion but closed at one R indicate an exit rule leaving measurable profit behind. Both values should be recorded in R rather than dollars so they remain comparable between quiet gold weeks and high-volatility periods around CPI and FOMC.