Trading & signals glossary
What is XAUUSD?
XAUUSD is the ticker for gold priced in U.S. dollars: the price of one troy ounce of gold (XAU) in dollars (USD). It’s the most traded market in Telegram signal channels thanks to its volatility and nearly round-the-clock hours, from Sunday evening to Friday afternoon.
How it works
“XAU” is the code for gold and “USD” the code for the dollar: if XAUUSD is at 4,200, one ounce costs $4,200.
It trades like a currency pair: buying is betting gold rises against the dollar; selling, that it falls.
A standard lot is usually 100 ounces: every $1 move is $100 per lot.
XAU
one troy ounce of gold
USD
in U.S. dollars
XAUUSD 4,200
one ounce costs $4,200
1 lot = 100 oz
$1 move = $100 per lot
How to calculate it
profit = (exit price − entry price) × ounces
1 lot = 100 ounces at most brokers.
Example: buying 0.10 lots of gold
- You buy 0.10 lots (10 ounces) of XAUUSD at 4,200.
- Gold rises to 4,215: $15 per ounce.
- 15 × 10 ounces = $150 profit.
- Depending on the broker, that $15 move is 150 or 1,500 “pips”: that’s why it’s better to talk in dollars or R.
Calculate it
Run the numbers yourself
Free Verpips tools that do this calculation for you.
Our data · Verpips
What we see in signal channels
- 82%
- of measured signals are gold
- 3,866
- signals measured
- 269
- channels in the directory
of the signals we measure are gold
82% of the 3,866 signals we measured are gold (XAUUSD). It’s by far the market of choice for Telegram signal channels: most post nothing but gold, or gold plus a forex pair or two.
Verpips data as of Oct 7, 2026, measured against the real price. See how we measure and the channel directory.
Types and variations
- XAUUSD
- Gold in dollars: the most common.
- XAUEUR
- Gold in euros.
- XAGUSD
- Silver in dollars, gold’s “little brother.”
- GOLD
- Another name for the same symbol on some platforms.
Why it matters when choosing a signal channel
Nearly every signal channel trades gold, and gold moves a lot: tens of dollars in minutes on a news release. The same stop in dollars can be 10 or 100 “pips” depending on who’s counting, so compare channels by R, not pips.
Common traps
- Counting gold pips at $0.01 so the numbers look ten times bigger.
- Signals right before U.S. data releases (NFP, CPI, FOMC) with stops the noise blows right through.
- Comparing gold results in pips with forex results in pips.
Key takeaways
- ✓XAUUSD = the price of one ounce of gold in dollars.
- ✓It’s the most traded market in signal channels.
- ✓A lot is usually 100 ounces.
- ✓Gold “pips” have no standard: dollars or R are better.
FAQ: XAUUSD
What does XAU stand for?
It’s the international code (ISO 4217) for gold, just as USD is the code for the dollar.
What hours does gold trade?
Nearly around the clock, from Sunday evening to Friday afternoon (New York time). The busiest times are the London open and the New York open.
How much is a pip worth on gold?
It depends on how each side counts it ($0.01 or $0.10 per ounce). On 1 lot (100 ounces), a $1 move is $100.
Channel by channel
See these numbers for each channel, not as an average.
With a free account you see each channel’s result in R, its drawdown, and what it announced versus what actually happened.