Inside Bobby's head
The big story last week was the Democrats' win in the US elections.
US indices
The news sent markets tumbling on Thursday. And they fell hard! It was the Nasdaq's biggest drop since April 2025, when Trump's tariff announcements sent markets into a panic.
One concern was the prospect of new restrictions on data centres and AI investment.
The VIX (the "fear gauge") jumped nearly 40% in a single day!
It's hard to get a clear read after a move like that. Do we buy the bounce or stick with the move lower?
Nasdaq
In a market like this, a lot of my order flow analysis can go out the window. An announcement from the Democrats could send price either way, regardless of the technical signals.
The area where price was accepted before the sell-off is between 28,300 and 28,400 points.
If price gets back there, I'll watch closely to see whether buyers step in and can keep price above the zone. If they can, the market will have erased almost the entire drop in just a few days!
And if buyers can hold 28,400, that'll be another sign of the strength and buying hype we've seen in US markets for months.
If we break above 28,400 and buyers show up, I'll look for longs on small pullbacks to my key levels, such as VWAP.
The idea would be to ride the move towards 30,000 points, maybe even much higher!
So it all comes down to 28,400!
Gold
Gold didn't react as much as US indices. It did move back into the range we've been watching for several weeks.
I still have last week's scenario in mind. When a market is trending, previous areas of acceptance are often worth watching for trades.
So this is an interesting area to look for shorts in the direction of the downtrend. If price breaks below $3,900, I'll look for a continuation towards $3,700.
If gold keeps climbing, breaks above $4,260 and holds there, that invalidates my scenario. To me, that would mean the buyers have won the battle for this range!
Prop firms
For smaller budgets: Bulenox
Bulenox keeps quietly getting on with things without the aggressive marketing. I like that.
They're back with 89% off their "OPTION 1" accounts with the code BOBBY. The 50K account comes to €17.
You'll still need to pay the activation fee if you pass the challenge. It's a good opportunity to put yourself to the test without spending much. The deal ends on the evening of Tuesday, 10 November.
For bigger budgets: FTMO Instant
Thinking about trading with €1,500 of your own money? What about the new Instant account from FTMO?
For €1,500, you get straight into a $50,000 account, with no challenge and a $5,000 maximum loss. That gives you more room to work with than a small personal account.
I find FTMO's rules pretty reasonable, but you'll need to meet a 30% consistency rule and give up 10% of your profits at payout.
It's a trade-off worth thinking about!
Tradeify: a second chance with Funded Reset?
Tradeify has just launched Funded Reset!
Basically, if you blow your funded account, you can pay to get a new one without retaking the challenge. This only applies to 50K, 100K or 150K Select Funded accounts, and there are a few conditions to meet.
The prices aren't exactly cheap, but it gives traders another option. Maybe competitors will follow and prices will come down. I wouldn't say no! 😂
PS: If you want to see how I analyse markets this way, I've put out a lesson on my YouTube channel to show you how to use Volume Profile and VWAP.
These are my personal trading plans, shared for information, not investment advice.