Product Description

"This is a definitive, excellent book on Elliott, and I recommend it to all who have an interest in the Wave Principle." Richard Russell, Dow Theory Letters
"Gold and Silver Today wholeheartedly endorses this book. It is the definitive work on a scientific wave theory of human experience. If you are interested in technical or wave analysis, it should be required reading." Gold & Silver Today
"This book is extremely well done. It is clear, brief and bold....by far the most useful and comprehensive for both the beginner and the veteran." William Dilanni, Wellington Mgmt. Co.
"An outstanding job...I don't think a better basic handbook of Elliott Wave theory could be written." Donald J. Hoppe, Business and Investment Analysis
"...A top-drawer reference for serious technical analysts....all the nuts and bolts necessary to do their own Elliott Wave assembly." Futures Magazine
"Chapter Three is the best description of Fibonacci numbers we've seen in print and that alone is worth the price of the book." Janes Dines, The Dines Letter
"In a third of a lifetime in this business, this was the first time I really understood Elliott, and this is certainly the first book on Elliott that I could recommend. All the methods that Prechter has used so successfully are fully described in this book." The Professional Investor
"Elliott Wave Principle is such an important, fascinating, even mind-bending work, we are convinced that it should be read by and and every serious student of the market, be they fundamentalist or technician, dealing in stocks, bonds or commodities." Market Decisions
"Even allowing for minor stumbles, that 1978 prediction must go down as the most remarkable stick market prediction of all time." James W. Cowan, Monitor Money Review
Recipient of the Technical Analysis Association's Award of Excellence

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #14192 in Books
• Published on: 1999
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

From the Inside Flap
Robert R. Prechter, Jr. Robert R. Prechter, Jr. is author of several books on the markets and editor of two monthly forecasting publications, The Elliott Wave Theorist and Global Market Perspective. The Hulbert rating service reports that The Theorist exceeded the performance of the Wilshire 5000 over the 131/2 year period ending December 31, 1993, while being exposed to market risk only 50% of the time. EWT has won Hard Money Digest's "Award of Excellence" twice and Timer Digest's "Timer of the Year" twice, the only newsletter to do so. In 1984, Mr. Prechter set an all time record in the United States Trading Championship by returning 444.4% in a monitored real-money options account in the four month contest period. In December 1989, Financial News Network named him "Guru of the Decade". In 1990-1991, Mr. Prechter served as President of the Market Technicians Association in its twenty-first year.

From the Back Cover
"This is a definitive, excellent book on Elliott, and I recommend it to all who have an interest in the Wave Principle." Richard Russell, Dow Theory Letters
"Gold and Silver Today wholeheartedly endorses this book. It is the definitive work on a scientific wave theory of human experience. If you are interested in technical or wave analysis, it should be required reading." Gold & Silver Today
"This book is extremely well done. It is clear, brief and bold....by far the most useful and comprehensive for both the beginner and the veteran." William Dilanni, Wellington Mgmt. Co.
"An outstanding job...I don't think a better basic handbook of Elliott Wave theory could be written." Donald J. Hoppe, Business and Investment Analysis
"...A top-drawer reference for serious technical analysts....all the nuts and bolts necessary to do their own Elliott Wave assembly." Futures Magazine
"Chapter Three is the best description of Fibonacci numbers we've seen in print and that alone is worth the price of the book." Janes Dines, The Dines Letter
"In a third of a lifetime in this business, this was the first time I really understood Elliott, and this is certainly the first book on Elliott that I could recommend. All the methods that Prechter has used so successfully are fully described in this book." The Professional Investor
"Elliott Wave Principle is such an important, fascinating, even mind-bending work, we are convinced that it should be read by and and every serious student of the market, be they fundamentalist or technician, dealing in stocks, bonds or commodities." Market Decisions
"Even allowing for minor stumbles, that 1978 prediction must go down as the most remarkable stick market prediction of all time." James W. Cowan, Monitor Money Review
Recipient of the Technical Analysis Association's Award of Excellence

About the Author
Robert R. Prechter. Jr. is author of several books on the markets and editor of two monthly forecasting publications, The Elliott Wave Theorist and Global Market Perspective. The Hulbert rating service reports that The Theorist exceeded the performance of the Wilshire 5000 over 131/2 year period ending December 31, 1993, while being exposed to market risk only 50% of the time. EWT has won Hard Money Digest's "Award of Excellence" twice and Timer Digest's "Timer of the Year" twice, the only newsletter to do so. In 1984, Mr Prechter set an all time record in the United States Trading Championship by returning 444.4% in a monitored real-money options account in the four month contest period. In December 1989, Financial News Network named him "Guru of the Decade". In 1990-1991, Mr Prechter serves as President of the Market Technicians Association in its twenty-first year.
Mr Prechter's latest venture is Elliott Wave International, which provides monthly and intraday analysis on stock markets, currencies, interest rates, commodities and social trends to institutional and private investors around the world.
Mr. Prechter attended Yale University on a full scholarship and graduated in 1971 with a degree in psychology. He began his career as a Technical Market Specialist with the Merrill Lynch Market Analysis Department in New York, where his original work with the Wave Principle led to a small but loyal following, introduction to A.J. Frost and ultimately this book.
A.J. Frost C.F.A., a graduate of Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, started his career as a legal accountant. He achieved his objective on being admitted to the Ontario Institute of Chartered Accountants in 1934 and on his call to the Ontario Bar in 1937. In 1959, he was elected a fellow in the Institute for distinguished service to the accountancy profession. He served as Chairman of the National Capital commissions (Canada) for two years and later sat on the bench as a member of the Tax Appeal Board, Tax Review Board and Anti-Inflation Appeal tribunal. He has handed down many decisions in the field of income tax law. During his career, Mr Frost served on two university councils and the boards of several Canadian corporations.
In 1960, Mr. Frost became a partner of the late Hamilton Bolton, who introduced him ot the Elliott Wave Principle. After Bolton's death in 1967, he wrote two Elliott Wave Supplements for the firm of Bolton-Tremblay, the editors of the Bank Credit Analyst. In 1977, Mr Frost delivered a speech on the Elliott Wave Principle before the Market Technicians Associations. There he met Mr. prechter, whom he found to have remarkably compatible ideas despite their separation by two generations and national boundary. Mr. Frost provided weekly market commentary on Financial New Network and was one of the most frequently requested speakers for meetings of the Canadian Society of Technical Analysts.

Customer Reviews

We dont live in a universe governed by determinism
The book seems to offer evidence that the wave theory works, but it doesnt pass the test of contradicting evidence. The writers are basically saying that everything in nature seems to be working in a pattern of cycles. This theory is then presented as being the case with the stock market. If we can chart these cycles we will then be able to find what the stock markets next move will be in general and even in particular stocks. The problems with this are; If this theory were true we would be living in a universe governed by determinism. This cant be since there would be infinite cause and effect and there cant be two infinites. If determinism were true, there would be no free will, but as was shown above this is not the case. Events predicted by the elliot wave are coincidences and when money is at stake youre better off dealing in probabilities. The truth is that markets are governed by human psychology. Its far better to take the advice of the wise J. Paul Getty who wrote " To make money in the market buy when others are selling and sell when others are buying." Most trading books are very expensive and their advice in no way justifies their price. Get How to be rich by J.Paul Getty. This book offers very wise advice on making money in buisness, investments etc. and it doesnt cost an arm and a leg.

Elliott from his editor
Either you are a so-called Elliottician or simply curious about one of the most discussed market histyory, this book is a must have.
Robert Pretcher is from far the best author I have read on Elliott wave theory. The book is clear and contains all the tenets you need to get a firm, sound graph of the Elliott Theory.
Do not expect trading systems or magic formulas, but at least a good, well written, concise but still complete analysis of the key Elliott's principles.
Suggested read.

Interesting material if you believe in technical analysis
I will avoid a long discussion about stock market efficiency and the efficacy of simple technical analysis, and point you in the direction of Malkiel's A Random Walk Down Wall Street. I would suggest further readings if you want to delve into the academic debate behind it.

That being said Prechters's book offers a basic guide into the fundamentals of Eliiot Wave analysis. The principles of the analysis are the belief that there is information to be gained from the price action of stocks (e.g. the implict information of transactions by traders) and that there is a natural flow to these price movements (e.g. stocks don't go up in one direction).

In incorporating price information, the belief is that stocks move in a 5-wave impulsive pattern, which can be either bullish (up) or bearish (down). A 5-wave move is followed by a 3-wave corrective pattern. Larger cycles are basically an aggregation of many 5- and 3-wave patterns. If believed to be true, the practical benefit of understanding waves and cycles is that investors can use this information to identify "where" they are in the cycle of a stock's movement.

The book follows the basics of identifying waves and cycles with some historical and matehmatical background information. This is where Pretcher ties the material in with nature. He believes that waves move in a natural way, which can be described by the Fibonacci sequence and Fibonacci ratios. He advocates using Fibonnaci ratios to forecast the distance (e.g. percent change) and timing of stock price movements. I found this material to be the most informative since it provided background reading on Fibonacci numbers which many technical traders employ in the various tools they use. Now I know what they are talking about.

The rest of the book can be skipped. It is primarily an application of Elliot Wave to various historical contexts. Of course, Pretcher draws on examples that fit nicely with the belief that Elliot Wave has strong predictive abilities. If I recall correctly, the author does close the book with his predictions for the stock market and did correctly predict a long-term bullish Wave 5 coming out of 1982-83.