How do I know gold is trending?

Three conditions together: the daily candle has broken and held beyond the previous day range, the 4-hour chart is making higher highs and higher lows (or lower lows and lower highs), and there is a nameable macro driver such as moving real yields or a trending dollar.

Where do I enter a gold trend continuation trade?

On shallow retracements into the 15-minute 20 EMA, the session VWAP, or a broken swing level that is being retested — confirmed by a rejection candle or a lower-timeframe structure break, never by chasing new highs.

How long should I hold a gold trend trade?

Take a partial at 1R and trail the remainder on 15-minute swing structure, letting the session end the trade. The strategy relies on a small number of large trend days, so cutting every winner at 1R removes the edge.

Gold Trend Continuation Strategy (XAU)

Gold trend continuation trades shallow retracements within a confirmed XAU trend, defined by a daily break of the prior day range, 4-hour higher highs and higher lows, and a nameable macro driver.

Entries come from the 15-minute 20 EMA, session VWAP or a retested broken swing, confirmed by a rejection candle, with stops beyond the retracement extreme plus a buffer — commonly $5 to 0 on XAUUSD.

A partial at 1R plus a 15-minute structure trail preserves the small number of large trend days that make the strategy profitable.