Trading in Forex market, a trader can at the same time take a long position (buy one of the currencies) and a short position (sell another currency) using Forex prices which are quoted in pairs. To trade gold in Forex market, however, both long and short positions only needs to be taken at the same time as the opposite position in the US dollar is taken.

With the above facts, a spot gold quote (XAU/USD) can be read similarly to a Forex quote can; that is, the first symbol represents one “troy” ounce of gold.  Thus, the symbol US$1,000 XAU/USD means that one ounce of gold is equal to US$1,000 with the value of dollar fluctuating.
Further, the price of spot gold for the buyers to buy is known as “the ask price” while that for the sellers to sell is “the bid price”, and the difference in between is “the spread”, just like it is in the Forex market. Due to the spot gold trading’s fast pace, the prices changes reasonably quickly in the market.

An Example of Trading Gold

In spot gold trading, a trader can get a spot gold quote that reads: 1,000/1,001 – which means that the spot gold can either be sold at US$1,000 or be bought at US$1,001. Therefore, a single lot of gold which equals to 10 ounces, priced at US$1,000 per ounce, can be bought for US$10,000 in total. In the event of the price of gold rising to US$1,005 per ounce or US$10,050 for 10 ounces, a trader can make US$50. Similarly, if it goes down to US$995 or US$9,950, he or she loses US$50.
Conclusion
Just as trading in Forex, gold trading online can be learnt easily. Nonetheless, it also comes with its risks and rewards which should be perfectly understood by anyone who starts trading.