2 Examples of the Forecasting Ability of the Elliott Wave Principle

The following article was written by Elliott Wave
International’s Senior Instructor Jeffrey Kennedy to show what you can expect
from a market at the completion of various Elliott wave patterns. Jeffrey,
a Chartered Market Technician and highly sought-after speaker and teacher,
will host a free Trader Education Week, August 20-27. Learn
more now.

Some people think the Wave Principle is complicated.
But, in reality, all you need to know to find trading opportunities are
the five core patterns: impulse waves and diagonals move
in the direction of the larger trend; the zigzag, triangle
and flat are corrective waves that move against that trend.

What is most important to understand about the Wave Principle is that each
wave pattern implies a path for future price movement. For example,
a completed impulse wave implies that prices will retrace into the span
of travel of the previous fourth wave, most often to near its terminus.
(See graph.)

As countertrend wave patterns, zigzags, flats and triangles imply that once
they end, a complete retracement will follow. (See graph.)

This chart shows a corrective pattern called a zigzag. It is a three-wave
move that is typically contained in parallel lines, which I call the corrective
price channel. Whenever you see an A-B-C decline such as this where, ideally,
wave C equals the distance travelled in wave A, the implied forecast is
a move to the upside back to beyond the origin of the pattern.

For
example, the May through September pullback in SolarCity Corporation (SCTY)
consists of three waves (a zigzag), which forecasts a rally beyond the May
high.

The price chart of Pfizer Inc. provides another example of the forecasting
ability of the Wave Principle. A triangle is a wedge-shaped corrective,
or countertrend, wave pattern that is fully retraced upon completion.

As it stands, this pattern is incomplete and requires additional subdivisions.
Even so, this structure implies that the larger uptrend is still intact
and that new highs beyond $31.15, the point at which the triangle began,
will ultimately develop.