What does a good XAU breakout trade look like?

A normal-width Asian range, a nameable macro driver, a confirmed 15-minute close beyond the boundary during the London open, a patient retest fill with a volatility-based stop inside the range, and a first target at the measured move.

Are these gold examples real trades?

No. They are illustrative scenarios using round numbers to show the mechanics of the setup and its failure modes. They are educational only, not trade recommendations, and no result is implied or projected.

What is a measured move target on gold?

The width of the Asian range projected from the breakout point. If the range was $12 and price breaks the high at 3,404, the measured move target is roughly 3,416.

XAU Breakout Worked Examples: Win and Loss

Three illustrative XAU session breakout scenarios: a clean London expansion with a named macro driver returning around 2.9R, a driverless false break entered on the wick, and a valid-looking pattern that triggered two minutes before US CPI.

The clean example used a 2 Asian range, a confirmed 15-minute close, a retest fill, a $6.50 volatility-based stop inside the range and a measured-move first target.

The two failures shared the same chart quality and differed only in context — no macro driver in one, a scheduled US data release in the other, with spread widening turning a planned 1% loss into nearly 2%.