How long should I demo test a gold strategy?

Until at least 100 trades under the unchanged rule set have been logged, spanning one CPI, one NFP and one FOMC release. For a typical intraday XAUUSD strategy this is usually eight to twelve weeks; swing strategies can take four to six months.

Should my demo balance match my planned live account?

Yes, exactly. Percentage-based risk on a large demo balance produces lot sizes and dollar swings that bear no resemblance to a smaller live account, and the psychological experience does not transfer between the two.

Are demo fills on gold realistic?

Reasonable during quiet London and New York hours, but frequently too generous around the 21:00–23:00 UTC rollover and the 13:30 UTC data window, where live spreads and slippage widen considerably more than most demo feeds simulate.

Can I restart my demo account after a bad drawdown?

No — doing so deletes the losing sample and keeps only the winning trades, which produces a result that materially overstates the strategy's real expectancy. A demo drawdown is exactly the data the test exists to capture.

What should happen after a gold strategy passes the demo checklist?

It moves to a small live allocation, not full size. The purpose of the first funded stage is to test the trader's behaviour under real stakes, since no demo can reproduce the response to actual money moving.

Is a positive demo result enough to go live at full size?

No. Passing demo confirms the strategy survives real-time spread and execution friction; it does not confirm the trader's behaviour survives real financial stakes, which is what the subsequent small-live stage is designed to test.

DEMO TESTING GOLD PROPERLY

Demo testing a gold strategy only produces data that transfers to live trading when the demo account matches intended live balance, leverage, broker and symbol variant, and when risk per trade is held at a fixed percentage throughout the test.

Demo fills on XAUUSD tend to understate real execution cost specifically around the 21:00–23:00 UTC rollover and the 13:30 UTC CPI/NFP window, where live spreads and slippage widen well beyond the $0.15–$0.35 London/New York baseline.

A demo phase should run to a minimum of 100 trades covering at least one CPI, NFP and FOMC cycle, and should end against a written checklist rather than a subjective feeling, with promotion to a small live allocation rather than immediate full size.