Partial fills on XAUUSD: how I log them and when I cancel the rest
Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2026 8:36 pm
Gold execution note — partial fills, not a gold call.
On XAUUSD I still see tickets that fill in pieces, especially around the London–NY handoff or when the tape is thin. Treating a partial as “the full idea” has cost me more than the spread ever did.
My logging fields
• Intended size vs filled size
• Time gap between slices
• Mid at first fill vs mid at last fill
• Whether I cancelled the residual or let it work
Decision rule I actually use
If less than half the intended size is filled and price has already moved through my invalidation, I cancel the rest and manage what I have as a reduced-size trade — or flatten if the thesis is gone. I do not average in to “complete” the ticket. Completing size after the move is a new decision, not the original one.
If the partial is tiny noise (a few percent) and the level still holds, I may leave a working residual with a hard time stop. That time stop is pre-set; I don’t extend it because I’m annoyed.
Weekly review: I sort the journal by partial = yes and ask whether those tickets had worse expectancy than clean fills. Usually they do when I chase the remainder. Curious how others tag partials so the review isn’t just vibes.
On XAUUSD I still see tickets that fill in pieces, especially around the London–NY handoff or when the tape is thin. Treating a partial as “the full idea” has cost me more than the spread ever did.
My logging fields
• Intended size vs filled size
• Time gap between slices
• Mid at first fill vs mid at last fill
• Whether I cancelled the residual or let it work
Decision rule I actually use
If less than half the intended size is filled and price has already moved through my invalidation, I cancel the rest and manage what I have as a reduced-size trade — or flatten if the thesis is gone. I do not average in to “complete” the ticket. Completing size after the move is a new decision, not the original one.
If the partial is tiny noise (a few percent) and the level still holds, I may leave a working residual with a hard time stop. That time stop is pre-set; I don’t extend it because I’m annoyed.
Weekly review: I sort the journal by partial = yes and ask whether those tickets had worse expectancy than clean fills. Usually they do when I chase the remainder. Curious how others tag partials so the review isn’t just vibes.