ELLIOTT WAVE PRINCIPLE

                                  ELLIOTT WAVE PRINCIPLE

The Elliott Wave Principle is a detailed description of how groups of people behave. It reveals that mass psychology swings from pessimism to optimism and back in a natural sequence, creating specific and measurable patterns.

One of the easiest places to see the Elliott Wave Principle at work is in the financial markets, where changing investor psychology is recorded in the form of price movements. If you can identify repeating patterns in prices, and figure out where we are in those repeating patterns today, you can predict where we are going.

Using the Elliott Wave Principle is an exercise in probability. An Elliottician is someone who is able to identify the markets structure and anticipate the most likely next move based on our position within those structures. By knowing the wave patterns, you’ll know what the markets are likely to do next and (sometimes most importantly) what they will not do next. By using the Elliott Wave Principle, you identify the highest probable moves with the least risk.

ELLIOTT WAVE PATTERN (Motive and Corrective waves)

Elliott’s pattern consists of motive waves and corrective waves. A motive wave is composed of five subwaves and always moves in the same direction as the trend of the next larger size. A corrective wave is divided into three subwaves. It moves against the trend of the next larger size.

A picture above shows, these basic patterns build to form five and three-wave structures of increasingly larger size (larger “degree,” as Elliott said).

Waves 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 together complete a larger impulsive sequence, labeled wave (1). The impulsive structure of wave (1) tells us that the movement at the next larger degree of trend is also upward. It also warns us to expect a three-wave correction — in this case, a downtrend. That correction, wave (2), is followed by waves (3), (4) and (5) to complete an impulsive sequence of the next larger degree, labeled as wave 1. At that point, again, a three-wave correction of the same degree occurs, labeled as wave 2. 

Note that regardless of the size of the wave, each wave one peak leads to the same result a wave two correction. 
Within a corrective wave, subwaves A and C are usually smaller-degree impulsive waves. This means they too move in the same direction as the next larger trend. (In Figure 2 below, waves A and C are in the same direction as the larger wave (2).) Note that because they are impulsive, they themselves are made up of five subwaves. Waves labeled with a B, however, are corrective waves; they move in opposition to the trend of the next larger degree (in this case, they move upward against the downtrend). These corrective waves are themselves made up of three subwaves.

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Motive waves (impulse wave and diagonal triangle)


Impulse

Impulse is the most common motive wave.

 

• wave 1 must be an impulse or a leading diagonal • wave 2 can be any corrective pattern except a triangle • wave 2 must not retrace more than 100% of wave 1 • wave 3 must be an Impulse. • wave 3 must be longer than wave 2 • wave 4 can be any corrective pattern (zig-zag, double or triple zig-zag, triangle, flat, double or triple three) • waves 4 must not trade into a territory of a wave 1 • wave 5 must be an impulse or an ending diagonal • wave 3 must never be the shortest wave when compared to waves 1 and 5.

Impulse extension

Most impulses contain what Elliott called an extension. An extension is an elongated impulse with exaggerated subdivisions. The vast majority of impulses contain an extension in one and only one of their three actionary subwaves.

The fact that extension typically occurs in only one actionary subwave provides a useful guide to the expected lengths of upcoming waves. For instance, if the first and third waves are about equal length, the fifth wave will likely be a protracted surge. Conversely, if wave three extends, the fifth should be simply constructed and resemble wave one. In the market, the most commonly extended wave is wave 3.

Diagonal triangle (ending and leading)

A Diagonal is a common 5-wave motive pattern labeled 1-2-3-4-5 that moves with the larger trend. Diagonals move within two contracting channel lines drawn from waves 1 to 3, and from waves 2 to 4. There are two types of diagonals: leading diagonals and ending diagonals. They have a different internal structure and are seen in different positions within the larger degree pattern. Ending diagonals are much more common than leading diagonals.


Ending diagonal

An ending diagonal is a special type of pattern that occurs at times when the preceding move has gone too far too fast, as Elliott put it. A very small percentage of ending diagonals appear in the C wave position of A-B- C formations. In double or triple threes, they appear only as the final "C" wave. In all cases, they are found at the termination points of larger patterns, indicating exhaustion of the larger movement.
 

• structure is 3-3-3-3-3 • a wedge shape within two converging lines • wave 4 must trade into a territory of a wave 1 • appears primarily in the fifth wave position, in the C wave position of A-B- C and in double or triple threes as the final "C" wave

Leading diagonal

When diagonal triangles occur in the fifth or C wave position, they take the 3-3-3-3-3 shape that Elliott described. However, it has recently come to light that a variation on this pattern occasionally appears in the first wave position of impulses and in the A wave position of zigzags. The characteristic overlapping of waves one and four and the convergence of boundary lines into a wedge shape remain as in the ending diagonal triangle. However, the subdivisions are different, tracing out a 5-3-5-3-5 pattern.

• structure is 5-3-5-3-5 • a wedge shape within two converging lines • wave 4 must trade into a territory of a wave 1 • appears in the wave one position in an impulse, in the A wave position of A-B-C

Corrective waves (zig-zag, flat, triangle, double threes and triple threes)

Corrective patterns are labeled with letters, and move against the larger trend.


Zig-zag

A zig-zag is a 3-wave structure labeled A-B-C, generally moving counter to the larger trend. It is one of the most common corrective Elliott patterns.
 

 

 

• Structure is 5-3-5 • wave A must be a motive wave • wave B can only be a corrective pattern • wave B must be shorter than wave A by price distance • wave C must be a motive wave. • appears in wave two or four in an impulse, wave B in an A-B-C, wave X in a double or triple zig-zag, or wave Y in a triple threes

Flat (regular, expanded, running)

A Flat is a three-wave pattern labeled A-B-C that generally moves sideways. It is corrective, counter-trend and is a very common Elliott pattern.


Regular flat

 

• structure is 3-3-5 • wave B terminates about at the level of the beginning of wave A • wave C terminates a slight bit past the end of wave A • appears in wave two or four in an impulse, wave B in an A-B-C, wave X in a double or triple zig-zag, or wave Y in a triple threes

Expanded flat
 

• structure is 3-3-5 • wave B moves beyond the start of wave A • wave C ends more substantially beyond the ending level of wave A • appears in wave two or four in an impulse, wave B in an A-B-C, wave X in a double or triple zig-zag, or wave Y in a triple threes

Running flat

 

• structure is 3-3-5 • wave B terminates well beyond the beginning of wave A as in an expanded flat • wave C fails to travel its full distance, falling short of the level at which wave A ended • appears in wave two or four in an impulse, wave B in an A-B-C, wave X in a double or triple zig-zag, or wave Y in a triple threes

Triangle (contracting, expanding)

A Triangle is a common 5 wave pattern labeled A-B-C-D-E that moves counter-trend and is corrective in nature. Triangles move within two channel lines drawn from waves A to C, and from waves B to D. A Triangle is either contracting or expanding depending on whether the channel lines are converging or expanding. Triangles are overlapping five wave affairs that subdivide 3-3-3-3-3.


Contracting triangle

 

• structure is 3-3-3-3-3 • each subwave of a triangle is ussaly a zig-zag • wave E must end in the price territory of wave A • one subwave of a triangle usually has a much more complex structure than others subwaves • appears in wave four in an impulse, wave B in an A-B-C, wave X or wave Y in a double threes, wave X or wave Z in a triple threes

Expanding triangle

 

• structure is 3-3-3-3-3 • each subwave of a triangle is ussaly a zig-zag • wave E ends beyond the ending level of wave A and C • usually one subwave of a triangle has a much more complex structure than others subwaves • appears in wave four in an impulse, wave B in an A-B-C, wave X or wave Y in a double threes, wave X or wave Z in a triple threes

Combinations (double and triple threes)

Elliott called sideways combinations of corrective patterns double threes and triple threes. While a single three is any zig-zag or flat, a triangle is an allowable final component of such combinations and in this context is called a three. A double or triple three, then, is a combination of simpler types of corrections, including the various types of zig-zags, flats and triangles. Their occurrence appears to be the flat correction's way of extending sideways action. As with double and triple zig-zags, each simple corrective pattern is labeled W, Y and Z. The reactionary waves, labeled X, can take the shape of any corrective pattern but are most commonly zig-zags.


Double three examples


Example 1:




Example 2:


 

Triple threes example