What Happens After Elliott Wave 5?
When applying the Elliott Waves Theory to market movements, it is crucial to keep an eye out for running corrections which may take the form of impulse or correctionary waves. When studying market fluctuations using this theory, running corrections are vitally important and they may take either form.
Since a market is fractal, its depth of correction is generally consistent at all levels. If an impulsive move extends further than expected, its fifth wave should likely retrace back up to 38% of its length before continuing its journey.
Wave 5
Elliott excelled at making accurate market predictions based on reliable characteristics he observed within wave patterns. For example, Elliott observed that impulse and corrective waves alternate within larger trends, and that impulsive moves tend to exhibit five wave structures.
First and foremost, one needs to identify whether the current move is an impulsive or corrective one by looking at its overall structure and length of waves. Furthermore, look out for equality rules between first and fifth waves of an impulsive pattern.
An essential aspect of counting Wave 5 is identifying its pattern: whether zigzag, flat, combination or triangle. Furthermore, the wave should feature clear descending slope and should retrace at least 61.8% of its length from where it began as an impulsive wave – at this point buyers of call options may purchase them and sellers of put options may sell put options as part of an impulse move in either direction.
Wave 6
Wave 5s tend to be sideways affairs, providing a foundation for the final impulsive downward wave 6, usually seen as more energetic than wave 3. They often exhibit greater volume, increase optimism or pessimism and are less prone to “throw-overs” resulting in prices breaking through channel lines or Fibonacci targets.
Corrective ABC waves feature waves with increasing length. To maximize alternation, wave 3 should always exceed wave 2. Therefore, as a general guideline it would not be wise to declare complex wave 4 (zigzag, flat combination Triangle etc) when its territory overlaps that of wave 1 or 3. Doing so violates the rule of alternation and should therefore not be declared.
Wave 7
Elliott held that every action has its counterpart response. He observed five impulse waves making up larger impulsive moves and three corrective waves afterward – this pattern was repeated over longer and shorter time frames, demonstrating market movements’ fractal nature.
If a price moves beyond and breaks its channel, it could be engaging in a fifth wave rally which can be difficult to sustain. A fifth wave rally typically displays greater volatility than previous rallies and can quickly reverse itself as investors get cold feet about participating.
Whenever the Tom Joseph study shows a Profit Taking Index (PTI) value greater than 35, then chances of the rally making new highs are low. PTI compares buying and selling momentum against an earlier wave four retracement channel; furthermore, Fibonacci levels are used in this analysis as part of Elliott Wave Theory analysis.
Wave 8
Wave 8 is an essential wave to look out for when forecasting market trends. This corrective wave must come after an impulsive wave and must retrace 38-78% of wave 1’s length – typically appearing as either a zigzag, flat, or combination pattern.
Wave 8 may extend, but cannot encroach into the territory occupied by wave 1 (retrace more than 100%). If it does expand, its path may end near where the pivots were joined together and form a channel.
At its heart, fifth wave failure typically manifests itself through truncations – when the fifth wave does not reach the heights of its third counterpart but still contains five subwaves needed for Elliott wave counting. Diagonals also pose as warnings signs.
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