How I Set Up My Gold Trading Charts: A Step-by-Step Guide

Your MT4 chart doesn't need to look like a spaceship cockpit. After testing 5,000 indicators, here's my clean setup and exactly how I use each component.

My MT4 Setup

I run two charts for gold. That's it.

Chart 1: Daily (The Compass)

- Timeframe: Daily - Tool: Fibonacci retracement on major swings - Purpose: Determine trend direction and key structural levels

Chart 2: 4-Hour (The Map)

- Timeframe: 4-hour - Tool: Fibonacci retracement + extensions - Purpose: Identify entry zones and profit targets Both charts have clean backgrounds, no grid, and only the Fibonacci tool active. No moving averages, no oscillators, no volume indicators. Just price and Fib.

Step-by-Step: How I Set Up a Gold Trade

Step 1: Identify the daily trend

Open the daily chart. Look at the last 5-10 candles. Are we making higher highs and higher lows? That's bullish. Lower highs and lower lows? Bearish. This determines my bias.

Step 2: Plot Fibonacci on the 4-hour

Find the most recent significant swing. In an uptrend, plot Fib from the swing low to the swing high. In a downtrend, plot from swing high to swing low.

Step 3: Mark key levels

Circle the 61.8% level in red. This is my primary entry zone in a trend. Mark the 127.2% and 161.8% extensions as potential targets.

Step 4: Check confluences

Is the 61.8% level near a previous structure level (swing high/low)? If yes, the probability increases significantly.

Step 5: Set alerts

I set price alerts at my entry zone and at the last structure level below it. If price reaches my zone and shows a reversal candle, I enter.

Position Sizing

My formula is simple: Account Risk (2%) ÷ Stop Loss (in dollars) = Position Size Example: - Account: $10,000 - Risk: 2% = $200 - Stop loss: 50 pips on gold (≈ $50 per mini lot) - Position size: $200 ÷ $50 = 4 mini lots I calculated this before I even open the chart. No decisions during the trade.

The TradingView Trick

I use TradingView for quick analysis because the drawing tools are better than MT4's. My workflow: 1. Open TV on my right monitor 2. Plot Fib, mark levels, draw trend lines 3. Take a screenshot 4. Execute on MT4 on my left monitor The screenshot is key. I save it in a folder organized by date. After the trade closes, I paste it into my notebook. This builds a visual library of my setups over time.