Trade Gold and Oil:
With a Prop Firm

What Drives Gold

Gold pays no interest and has no earnings, so its price rests on what it costs to hold and what it protects against. That makes it sensitive to a short list of forces.

• Real interest rates: when inflation-adjusted yields fall, holding a metal that pays nothing costs less in lost income, and gold tends to find support. Rising real yields work the other way.
• The US dollar: gold is priced in dollars, so a weaker dollar often lifts XAU/USD and a stronger one weighs on it.
• Central bank and investor demand: buying by central banks and flows into gold funds can support prices for months.
• Inflation and currency worries: gold is widely held as a store of value when people doubt paper money.

Safe-Haven Behavior

During financial stress, conflict or sharp sell-offs in stocks, gold often draws buyers looking for safety. The reputation is strong but not absolute: in a sudden crash some investors sell gold to raise cash, and the safe-haven demand can arrive later. Treat the pattern as a tendency, and size trades as if it might not show up on the day you need it.

Silver:
Precious and Industrial

Silver follows gold much of the time, but it has a second identity as an industrial metal used in electronics, solar panels and medical equipment. Its price responds to the economic cycle as well as to rates and the dollar.

The silver market is much smaller than the gold market, which helps explain why its percentage moves are often larger. Traders watch the gold to silver ratio, the number of silver ounces it takes to buy one ounce of gold, as a rough gauge of whether silver is running ahead of gold or lagging behind. If you trade both metals, a long position in each is largely the same bet placed twice.

What Drives Crude Oil

Oil is a physical commodity with a constant tug between production and consumption. Its price reacts quickly when that balance looks set to change.

• Supply decisions: output targets from OPEC+ producers and shifts in US shale production change the outlook for supply.
• Inventories: weekly US data shows whether crude stocks are building or drawing down and often moves WTI on release.
• Demand and growth: signs of a stronger or weaker global economy, especially in the US and China, change expectations for fuel use.
• Geopolitics: conflict or sanctions affecting producing regions or shipping routes can add a risk premium within hours.

WTI and Brent

WTI is priced at the main US storage hub in Oklahoma and reflects the North American market. Brent comes from the North Sea and serves as the reference for much of the oil traded across Europe, Africa and Asia. The two usually move in the same direction, and Brent normally trades at a premium to WTI that shifts with shipping costs and regional supply.

Volatility and Position Sizing at 1:10

Commodities carry leverage of 1:10 at Pivex, so each $1 of balance can support up to $10 of position. On a $25K account, margin would allow about $250,000 of exposure, but the loss limits are what shape a sensible size: a 4% daily limit of $1,000 and a 6% maximum loss of $1,500.

Metals and oil often swing more in a day than the major currency pairs. A gold position worth $20,000 changes by $400 for every 2% move, which is the whole daily limit on a $10K account. Oil can move several percent in one session around inventory data or supply decisions.

Size From the Stop, Not From Leverage

1. 1Pick your risk amountDecide what the trade may lose in dollars, for example $100 on a $10K account, a quarter of the daily limit.
2. 2Measure the stop distanceFind the price that would prove the idea wrong. If gold would need to fall $20 an ounce to reach it, that is your stop distance.
3. 3Divide risk by distance$100 divided by $20 gives a position of 5 ounces. Check how many ounces one lot represents for the instrument and convert to lots.
4. 4Confirm the marginMake sure the margin fits comfortably within your balance, and remember that oversized positions on one instrument are not allowed.

Overnight Swaps on Longer Holds

Holding commodity trades overnight and over the weekend is allowed. A swap, or overnight financing charge, applies when a position stays open past the daily rollover around 21:00 UTC, and on Match-Trader a triple swap applies on Wednesdays.

Swap rates are shown in each instrument's details in the platform, and they can differ for buy and sell positions. One night rarely changes much, but on a trade you plan to hold for a week or more, add up the expected swaps before you enter. Any hold through a market break also carries gap risk: when trading resumes, the first price can be some distance from the last one.

Risk Habits for Metals and Oil

• Mark the big dates: US inflation and jobs data, central bank meetings, OPEC+ meetings and the weekly oil inventory release.
• Cut size before scheduled events rather than after a move has started.
• Avoid stacking gold and silver in the same direction unless you mean to double the exposure.
• Keep a personal daily stop below the 4% limit and stop trading for the day when you reach it.
• Close all trades when the account reaches the 10% profit target.

On Membership accounts, Daily Loss Protection adds one more cushion. If an account loses 3% in one day, open positions close and trading on that account pauses until the time shown in your dashboard, once per account.

More Markets and Features

Commodities sit alongside forex, indices, crypto and stocks on every Pivex account, under one set of rules. Choose an account size from $10K to $100K, and the dashboard tracks each objective as you trade.