Currently seeing bid/ask of 630.50/630.90 on CBOT January contract. Fairly typical.

PipRippy I doubt you can make that strategy work unless you had an automated arbitrage system. The two tend to move simultaneously due to arbitrage.

Technically it's not pips with gold I don't think. CBOT futures are sometimes more than 10 ticks (1 dollar) but usually less than 5 ticks (50 cents).

Commission is $2.06 per contract. Spreads varies - can get very low during the most liquid times.

I trade gold futures - CBOT mini. Tight spreads, plenty of liquidity and via a regulated exchange so no dodgy prices. I can't see any benefit to trading spot gold unless you don't have the capital to open a futures account.