Why not fully automate gold trading?

Because the highest-cost decisions on gold — standing down before tier-one releases, recognising a volatility regime change, reacting to a broker anomaly — are judgement calls a model has no basis to make.

Does human oversight reduce returns?

Sometimes, and that cost should be measured. Recording every veto with its reason lets you see whether caution helped or cost you across a large XAUUSD sample.

What should never be left to judgement?

Position sizing, stop placement and the invalidation level. Those stay mechanical, because that is where discretion causes the most damage on a 100-ounce contract.

HUMAN OVERSIGHT OF GOLD MODELS

Human oversight of gold models covers four decisions: the macro veto before tier-one releases, the volatility regime check, the decay review against the tested baseline, and the response to broker or data anomalies.

The governing rule is asymmetric — a person may veto a valid XAUUSD setup with a recorded reason but never add one the rules rejected, and sizing, stops and invalidation stay mechanical.