Compared to forex gold volatility is extreme, three 3000 pip/cent days in last week and today 2000 pips in late asian session.
ATR over the last trading year (266 days) is sitting at $8.26 per day. At the moment the 14 day ATR is an insane $19.82 (most of this year it's been around $10). Nobody knows how long these type of daily trading ranges will last - but take advantage of them now. The way to trade gold is to get up at 2 am ET (when europe opens and often it is a window into the daily hi/lows) and wait for that one moment in the day that the major time frames are in confluence and hold on to the trade for most of the day. What you want to do (to take advantage of these trading ranges) is to wait until you think you have found the daily top/bottom and then sit it out - wether your getting $8,$10, $20, or whatever. Stop should be tight if you have a good strategy (I'm using about $2-3). Don't day trade - but swing it for the day. The other advantage of 1 trade a day is that if daily ranges go back down to historical levels you can still do very, very well with one trade a day catching 5 or 6 dollars as was the case not long ago.