News events do not impact market price

Apple's iPhone, Germany, the Fed: Why It's All Irrelevant to the Market's Trend
R.N. Elliott's other major insight: News events do not impact market price patterns

A lot of people know that R.N. Elliott discovered the Wave Principle.
Yet few are aware that Elliott made another observation during his years of studying the stock market.

As the Wave Principle forecasts the different phases or segments of a cycle, the experienced student will find that current news or happenings, or even decrees or acts of government, seem to have but little effect, if any, upon the course of the cycle. It is true that sometimes unexpected news or sudden events, particularly those of a highly emotional nature, may extend or curtail the length of travel between corrections, but the number of waves or underlying rhythmic regularity of the market remains constant [emphasis added].

R.N. Elliott, R.N. Elliott's Masterworks, pp. 158-159

What a stunning insight: Even major news does not alter the market's main wave pattern! This seems to defy logic because most people believe that news and events are the very things that drive the stock market.
Yet, it was barely 100 years ago when most people believed that only birds could fly.
And even then, most people would never believe that a steel-encased object weighing nearly a million pounds (Boeing's 747) could get airborne and fly at 500 miles per hour.
Yet, natural law is what governs airplane flight, the buoyancy of metal ships, the incandescent light bulb, radio transmission over the air and, yes, the Wave Principle.
Natural law is inherent in the pattern of stock prices. That's why outside events do not materially influence the pattern's behavior.
This is particularly relevant today: Recent news covered Apple's new iPhone, which is expected to boost U.S. GDP; the European Central Bank's pledge to make "unlimited bond purchases"; Germany's Supreme Court approving the eurozone's permanent bailout facility; and the expected Federal Reserve announcement on whether to initiate more quantitative easing.
None of this will have an effect on the market's overall price pattern.
Charts of the Dow Industrials reveal that changes in interest rates, the deficit, the price of oil, terrorist attacks, Fed announcements and even wars do not change the market's main trend.
How about government bailouts of troubled financial institutions during the 2007-2009 financial crisis?
Please try to pick out on the chart below when those bailouts occurred.

According to the exogenous-cause model, these historic pledges and bailouts should have had immediate results. ... According to the economists' beliefs, the only rational place for them to have taken place would be at the bottom of the market. The minute the authorities began flooding the market with liquidity is the minute it should have turned up.
[The chart below] shows that in fact these actions took place in the early portion of the biggest stock market decline in 76 years. These actions did not push stock prices back up. The market finally bottomed months later, at a time when nothing along these lines happened.

The Elliott Wave Theorist, March 2010

Now, look at this labeled chart to see how you did.

In the 70 years since R.N. Elliott observed that news does not alter the market's wave pattern, his insight has been proven time and again.
It's wise to keep your market eye on what really matters: the Wave Principle.
R.N. Elliott drew a chart by hand 70 years ago and the final label is the year 2012! Amazingly, today's wave analysis confirms that his decades-ago analysis may be precisely on target.
The herd keeps looking to irrelevant outside events to aid their investing decisions. It's time to break away from the herd and start investing independently. EWI is here to help ...

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Technical Analysis of the DOW Industrials

When an Over-Ripe Market is Ready to Spoil
Reliable internal measures tell a story investors need to know
September 7, 2012

By Elliott Wave International

Anyone who enjoys eating fruit knows there's a fine line between ripe and over-ripe.
If it sits in the fruit bowl too long, over-ripe turns rotten.
As experienced investors know, the stock market goes through similar phases. An overbought, or over-ripe, market can spoil quickly.
Take a look at this chart for example (wave labels removed), and ask yourself, is the stock market on the verge of spoiling?

The Aug. 10 Financial Forecast Short Term Update provides commentary to go with the chart.

[An] indicator that has moved to an overbought condition is 10-day NYSE Trin (advance/decline ratio divided by the up/down volume ratio). Wednesday's close [Aug. 8] was .937, which was the most overbought level since March 26, when 10-day Trin closed at .900 (see gray vertical line). That was five days prior to the April 2 S&P top. It's certainly possible that Trin becomes even more overbought prior to a market high, but it doesn't have to. Current levels are the exact opposite of those that attended the August, October and November 2011 lows, as marked on the left side of the chart.

EWI also looks at several other internal measures.
A healthy bull market sports broad participation among different sectors and indexes. Up days are consistently accompanied by high volume; momentum is strong.
The indicators EWI watches suggest this market is indeed overbought and still ripening.

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the U.S. Market will Surge Higher

The Surge Higher in U.S. Markets: "The Stage is Being Set"
The market's main trend stays the same.
August 03, 2012

By Elliott Wave International

Elliott Wave International has long observed that external events do not alter the dominant trend of financial markets -- not even major events like wars, natural disasters, terrorist attacks, political assassinations or any other news that makes headlines.
Now, it is true that news can sometimes have a near-term effect on market prices.
The July 26 opening bell is an example.

Dow Surges 200 Points on Draghi Comments, Jobless Claims

That's from The Wall Street Journal. The text reads:

Europe's top central banker sparked a global rally in stocks after reassuring investors the Continent's central bank would be vigilant about holding together the euro zone.... European Central Bank President Mario Draghi...said the ECB is ready to do whatever it takes to preserve the common-currency union.

The article adds that "the number of U.S. workers filing for unemployment benefits fell for the fourth time in five weeks, to a level that was far lower than expected."
EWI expected a near-term bounce in stock prices -- just one day ago.
On July 25, EWI's Financial Forecast Short Term Update said this to subscribers:

Near term, there may be a few more days of bounce. The stock market is setting the stage...

The Update went on to describe what the stock market is setting the stage for. It is not what most investors expect.
The pattern in the major U.S. stock indexes has been 80 years in the making -- which is to say, the pattern is unfolding at a large degree of trend.

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the BIG DROP Scenario for US Markets

The Drop Like a Rock Scenario for U.S. Markets

Third waves are "wonders to behold" 
July 27, 2012

Financial markets always have and always will pose two basic questions that investors seek to answer:

1. What's the direction of the main trend?
2. How far will it go?

Systematic approaches to these questions commonly belong to either fundamental or technical analysis. Let's consider each one briefly.

Fundamental analysis studies how a market behaves in response to external influences such as earnings, sales, competitive outlook, economic outlook and the like.

Technical analysis studies a market's internal behavior -- mainly price, but also internal measures like volume.

Elliott wave analysis is a branch of technical analysis, specifically pattern recognition.

In the 1930s, Ralph Nelson Elliott discovered that stock market prices trend and reverse in recognizable patterns...Elliott isolated five such patterns, or "waves," that recur in market price data.

Elliott Wave Principle: Key to Market Behavior (p. 19)

In a five-wave progression, the third wave is the most powerful.

Third waves unfold in bull and bear markets alike. Elliott Wave Principle (p. 80) describes a third wave in a bull market:

Third waves are wonders to behold. They are strong and broad, and the trend at this point is unmistakable...Third waves usually generate the greatest volume and price movement and are most often the extended wave in a series. It follows, of course, that the third wave of a third wave, and so on, will be the most volatile point of strength in any wave sequence.

Third waves can be more powerful during market declines because fear is a stronger emotion than greed.

Look at the third wave on this S&P 500 chart which published in the January 2009 Elliott Wave Financial Forecast. Notice that prices dropped like a rock, plunging well over 600 points in less than a year. (The third wave starts where the chart shows (2) and ends at (3)):

You can see on the chart that the S&P 500 had rebounded after the third wave had bottomed. Even so, the chart's title states that there was "Room for a New Low." Indeed, after the rebound which was wave (4), wave (5) took prices to a March 6, 2009 intraday low of 666.79.

How about now?

That depends on who you ask.

On July 10, CNBC reported on the sentiment of a chief market strategist of a capital management firm:

Ever the optimist, he is holding to his market call this year for the S&P 500 to hit 1,500.

A principal of a financial advisory firm and guest columnist for Marketwatch wrote a July 10 article titled "Stock charts don't lie: the trend is up." The article says:

Shares continue their winning ways, technically. The averages show a stair-step series of higher highs and higher lows, the definition of an uptrend.

By contrast, the latest Financial Forecast flat out says:

The stock market is nowhere near a lasting low.

Why does the Financial Forecast differ from the two opinions above?

Because Elliott analysts know that during a market downtrend, second waves can convince investors that the rally is a new bull market.

That can be a financially dangerous mind-set.

Optimism precedes third waves lower. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, a third wave can commence with unrelenting violence and speed.

In the chart above, you saw the optimism-driven rebound just before prices plunged.

Do not expect the financial media to provide you with advance warning of a third wave. The crowd is almost always on the wrong side of the market. Third waves arriveunannounced.

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Why is the Australian Dollar Surging

Australian Dollar: "Still Surging" -- Why, Again?
This is a story we've seen repeated in the forex markets again and again. 
July 20, 2012

By Elliott Wave International

Picture this. It's late May. You're in Australia. You have an interest in the currency markets: Maybe you speculate in forex; maybe your business depends on the exchange rates.
Every morning, you scan the headlines. This is what you see regarding the Australian dollar during the last week of May:

• "Aussie dollar sinks to eight-month low"
• "Little long-term support for Australian dollar"
• "Poor data slams Aussie dollar"
• "Aussie dollar drops as investors seek safe-havens"
• "Australian Dollar Down After Retail Sales Slip"
• "Weak China PMI Sinks Euro, Australian Dollar"

Even after a strong rebound the AUD saw on May 28 and 29, you read that "analysts don't see [the] improvement lasting too long unless the global economic backdrop improves." You sit down to make some decisions in preparation for an even weaker Aussie, and...
...and now, six weeks later, the AUD is orbiting the moon. Yes, between June 1 and today, against the U.S. dollar the Aussie dollar shot up from near $0.96 to over $1.04, despite all the "bad fundamentals" from late May.
This is a story we've seen repeated in the forex markets again and again: Right when everyone accepts the trend (bullish or bearish) as "the new normal," the trend reverses.
We are proud to say that we don't follow the herd off the cliff each time they head that way -- because we have the right forecasting tools. On June 1, our Senior Currency Strategist Jim Martens published this bullish AUD/USD forecast (excerpt; some Elliott wave labels have been erased for this article):

Excerpt from the June 1 forecast: "...AUD/USD is forming a corrective setback, either a flat or a triangle...to be followed by another push above [price target]"

This bullish forecast was based strictly on the Elliott wave picture in AUD/USD charts. Jim simply saw that the pair had reached the bottom trendline of the likely "triangle" Elliott wave pattern, so a strong rebound was due in the next wave of the pattern.
Today, after 6 weeks of rally, the AUD is "still surging," as it has become "an attractive investment." But you already know how rapidly this tune will change once the trend reverses.
Jim Martens has the near- and long-term AUD/USD price targets inside his Currency Specialty Service for you right now.
ALSO, don't miss our ongoing July 18-26 "Free FX Trading Event." Details below.

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a Lesson in Spotting Trade Setups

A Four-Chart Lesson in Spotting Trade Setups

July 10, 2012

By Elliott Wave International

You can find low-risk, high-confidence trading opportunities by trading with the trend. The trick is to find the end of market corrections, so you can position yourself for the next move in the direction of the trend.
This excerpt from Jeffrey Kennedy's free 47-page eBook How to Spot Trading Opportunities explains where to find bullish and bearish trade setups in your charts and how to zero-in on these opportunities. If this lesson interests you, the full 47-page eBook is free through July 16.

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On the left-hand side of the illustration below, there are two bullish trade setups. As traders, we want to wait for the wave (2) correction to be complete so we can catch the move up in wave (3) -- this is the trade. What we are trying to do in this bullish trade setup is anticipate the potential for profits on the buy-side as prices move up in wave (3). Another bullish trade setup is at the end of wave (4).

As traders, we are looking to buy the pullback and position ourselves within the direction of the larger up-trend. Remember, three-wave moves are corrections, which means that they are countertrend structures. On the other hand, five-wave moves define the larger trend. As traders, we want to determine what the trend is and trade in the direction of the trend. Our buying opportunity to rejoin the trend is whenever the trend pauses and forms a correction.
Now, let's look at the right-hand side of the illustration where we see two bearish setups. When a five-wave move is complete, it is retraced in three waves as a correction. The end of the five-wave move presents the first trading opportunity that we can take advantage of the short side (or the sell side) as the wave (A) down begins.
Notice the second bearish trade setup gives us another shorting opportunity as wave (B) tops.
So, within the classic wave pattern of five waves up and three waves down, we have four high-probability trading opportunities in which we are either positioning ourselves in the direction of the trend or identifying termination points of a trend. I want to share with you some tricks I have picked up over the years about how to analyze corrective waves and their termination points. The single most important thing I've learned from analyzing corrections is that corrective or countertrend price action is usually contained by parallel lines.

As shown above, draw the parallel lines by beginning at the origin of wave A and going to the extreme of wave B. You draw a parallel of that line off the extreme of wave A. So basically you have a small, slightly angled downward price channel. This will show you the containment region for wave C. It also shows you an area toward the bottom of the lower trend line where you can expect a reversal in price.

Here is another example. Again, you draw the parallel lines off the origin of wave A, the extreme of wave A and the extreme of wave B.
Toward the upper end of the upper trend line, you will usually see a reversal in price.

This example shows how countertrend price action is contained by parallel lines in the British pound, 60-minute, all sessions. Why is it important to know parallel lines contain the corrective or countertrend price action? Number one, it will increase your confidence that you are indeed labeling a countertrend move properly. Number two, it identifies areas where you will likely see prices reverse. For example, we see this reversal up near the top.

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World's Biggest Banks get Downgraded!

World's 15 Biggest Banks Get Downgraded -- What This Means for "Safe Banks"
Another one of Robert Prechter's Conquer the Crash forecasts comes true
June 29, 2012

By Elliott Wave International

Today's news that the losses suffered by the biggest U.S. bank, JP Morgan Chase & Co., may be as big as $9b instead of $2b, as previously announced, came on the heels of another noteworthy news report from the world of banking.
On June 21, Moody's Investors Service downgraded 15 of the world's largest banks, including the U.S. second-largest bank, Bank of America. Says Reuters: "...the downgrades reinforce a trend that has seen weaker banks punished for their risk-taking, while stronger banks are rewarded for conservative funding models, ensuring lower costs and higher margins."
And, "The ratings...gave a competitive advantage to 'safe-haven' banks that fund themselves with stable, low-cost customer deposits..."
This seems like a good moment for those "safe-haven" banks to toot their horn a little, as it might just get them more business -- just as this quote from Ch. 19 of Robert Prechter's Conquer the Crash had predicted:

"...relatively safe banks, if they have the sense to inform the public of their safety advantage, are likely to become even safer during difficult times. Why? Because depositors in a developing financial crisis will move funds out of the weakest banks into the strongest ones, making the weak ones weaker and the strong ones stronger."

This year marks the 10th anniversary of Prechter's Conquer the Crash, and to mark the occasion, we have put together a special free report for you: an except with 8 key chapters from this forward-looking book.

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In the first four months of 2012, nearly everyone went "all in" stocks and gold – and said "no way" to the dollar. As it turns out, the markets moved contrary to their consensus opinion. This begs the question:

What Were You Reading

about Stocks, Gold

and the Dollar when ...

• The U.S. Dollar Index was at 78.7 on Feb. 9 and the financial news reported, "Experts are forecasting a continuation of soft performance in the U.S. dollar as talk of a likely deal in Greece empowers the euro." – NuWire Investor
  
  Here's what we said (when we said it):
  
  
  
  
• Gold was at $1,728 on Feb. 6 and the financial news reported, "HSBC said it was keeping its 2012 average gold forecast at $1,850 an ounce due to accommodative global monetary policies, financial market uncertainty and renewed central banks' interest." – Reuters
  
  Here's what we said (when we said it):
  
  
  
  
  
• The Dow was at 13,215 on May 1 and the financial news reported, "Greenspan Says US Stocks 'Very Cheap,' Likely to Rise" – Bloomberg
  
  Here's what we said (when we said it):
  
  
  
  
  

Now, we don't share these timely forecasts to imply that we're always right. You and I know that no market forecasting service can make that claim. Yet we want you to know that while volatility does mean uncertainty to many investors, it can often mean opportunity if you're watching the waves.

The most important question for you today is NOT

what were you reading then, but rather ...

What are you going to read NOW?

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the 80/20 Trade

The 80/20 Trade: "Pounce Like a Cat"
Patience Can Be Rewarding
June 04, 2012

By Elliott Wave International

Copy the tiger when stalking and capturing a "pounce-ready" trade.
Tigers know the prey they covet is elusive: they show great patience and care when stalking the target.
I came across this description of the tiger's technique:

"When hunting, this cat...may take twenty minutes to creep over ground which would be covered in under one minute at a normal walk...the tiger will sometimes pause...move closer and so lessen that critical attack distance...before finally raising its body and charging.

"...they wait until a victim comes close and spring up...This ambush method of hunting uses less energy and has a greater chance of success."

You must "ambush" high confidence trades. Long-time professional trader and teacher Dick Diamond says patience is vital before the ambush.
I talked to Diamond about his famous 80/20 trade, which he means literally -- he says it has at least an 80 percent chance of success. It's the only trade set-up Diamond will take.
------------
Q: Could you tell me about the 80/20 trade?
Diamond: The 80/20 trade is based on indicators that create a specific trading set-up. A trader must act on this set-up immediately. You must wait, and then pounce like a cat when the opportunity presents itself. Then you set stops. In shorter time frames, like trading from a five minute chart, the 80/20 set up may come along a few times a day. If you're trading a longer time frame, like off of a 120 minute or 240 minute chart, the 80/20 will come along less frequently, but when it does, the opportunity will be bigger. The 80/20 trade can be especially rewarding for position traders. Sometimes the indicators reveal what I call 90/10 or even 95/5 trades.
Q: What emotional factors do students need to work on the most?
Diamond: Traders must be calm and confident. You can't be a Nervous Nellie and succeed at trading. Calmness comes from learning the proper trading techniques.
Q: What's different about trading today vs. when you started out in the 1960s?
Diamond: When I started trading, execution took up to five minutes -- now it takes less than a second. Time is money, so computers provide a great advantage to today's trader compared to pre-computer days. At the same time, while computers allow the trader to see multiple indicators on the screen, one must avoid indicator overload. One must learn to narrow down the number of indicators.

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Get Ready for the Rest of the Crash

Position Yourself for the Rest of "Conquer the Crash"
The earlier you prepare, the better
May 23, 2012

By Elliott Wave International

To this day, I wonder why Robert Prechter's book Conquer the Crash has not been more widely recognized. It described in advance much of what happened in the 2008 financial crisis.
Published in 2002, the book provided detailed descriptions of then-future economic scenarios. They were detailed vs. general. Prechter was specific in a way that would prove right or wrong; there was no gray.
This is from the book:

There are five major conditions in place at many banks that pose a danger: (1) low liquidity levels, (2) dangerous exposure to leveraged derivatives, (3) the optimistic safety ratings of banks' debt investments, (4) the inflated values of the property that borrowers have put up as collateral on loans and (5) the substantial size of the mortgages that their clients hold compared both to those property values and to the clients' potential inability to pay under adverse circumstances. All of these conditions compound the risk to the banking system of deflation and depression.

Conquer the Crash, second edition, (p. 179)

That's just one excerpt about one topic in a 456-page text. Perhaps you see why I believe the book deserves more credit. Yet even that one paragraph from the book turned out to be a virtual mirror of what came to pass. And much of what he predicted is unfolding today: the JPMorgan trading fiasco, massive withdrawals at Greek banks, downgrades of Italian and Spanish banks and much more. Those are just a few headlines.
The broader point is that Conquer the Crash prepared its readers. Around the time the book's second edition published in 2009, the Chicago Sun-Times remarked
And the credit implosion is still not over. Please take a look at the chart:

In the Conquer the Crash quote in the first part of this article, you'll notice the last three words are "deflation and depression."
The world has yet to completely pass through these economic valleys.

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What to Make of the Stock Market

The Manic-Depressive Stock Market: What to Make of It
The psychology of the market may be teetering on the edge
May 2, 2012

By Elliott Wave International

The stock market: one week it acts like Dr. Jekyll, the next week it's Mr. Hyde.
That shift can even occur in the course of a single session.
These dramatic fluctuations appear to be impulsive; and we know that impulse does not flow from cold reason. Even so, the Efficient Market Hypothesis would have us believe that investors are constantly applying reason and logic to reach some objective market pricing, via the latest news or measure of stock market valuation.
The February 2010 Elliott Wave Theorist provides insight:

The Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) and its variants in academic financial modeling...rely at least implicitly but usually quite explicitly upon the bedrock ideas of exogenous cause and rational reaction. Stunningly, as far as I can determine, no evidence supports these premises...
EMH argues that as new information enters the marketplace, investors revalue stocks accordingly. If this were true, then the stock market averages would look something like the illustration shown [below].

We know that the market does not unfold in the way illustrated above. But we do know that the market has unfolded like this:

So in 2000, did a sudden burst of logic lead investors to realize that the NASDAQ was over-valued?
No. Technology stocks had absurd price/earnings ratios long before the NASDAQ top.
The NASDAQ's abrupt switch from Hyde to Jekyll stemmed from investors' collective unconscious. Consider the gazelle that runs in panic because others are: it does not pause to rationally survey the landscape. It explodes in a burst of speed that reaches 90 km/hr within seconds.
Decades ago, multimillionaire stock market operator Bernard Baruch said

...the stock market is people. It is people trying to read the future. And it is this intensely human quality that makes the stock market so dramatic an arena, in which men and women pit their conflicting judgments, their hopes and fears, strengths and weaknesses, greeds and ideals.

This psychology of the marketplace unfolds in waves. That is what we study.

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