Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Discover the Dynamics of Using Moving Averages

How to Spot High-Probability Trading Opportunities
November 23, 2010
By Elliott Wave International

The "moving average" is a technical indicator which has stood the test of time. Nearly 25 years ago, Robert Prechter described this indicator in his famous essay, "What a Trader Really Needs to be Successful." What he said then remains true today:

"...a simple 10-day moving average of the daily advance-decline net, probably the first indicator a stock market technician learns, can be used as a trading tool, if objectively defined rules are created for its use."

Indeed, "objectively defined rules" are vital to the successful use of moving averages. And as you might imagine, advanced rules and guidelines work to the benefit of more advanced technicians.

What is a moving average? As EWI's Jeffrey Kennedy puts it, "A moving average is simply the average value of data over a specified time period, and it is used to figure out whether the price of a stock or commodity is trending up or down."

Jeffrey also says, "One way to think of a moving average is that it's an automated trend line."

A 15-year veteran of technical analysis, Jeffrey wrote "How You Can Find High-Probability Trading Opportunities Using Moving Averages."
[Descriptions of the following charts are summaries from that eBook]:

Let's begin with the most commonly-used moving averages among market technicians: the 50- and 200-day simple moving averages. These two trend lines often serve as areas of resistance or support.

For example, the chart below shows the circled areas where the 200-period SMA provided resistance in an April-to-May upward move in the DJIA (top circle on the heavy black line), and the 50-period SMA provided support (lower circle on the blue line).



Let's look at another widely used simple moving average which works equally well in commodities, currencies, and stocks: the 13-period SMA.

In the sugar chart below, prices crossed the line (marked by the short, red vertical line), and that cross led to a substantial rally. This chart also shows a whipsaw in the market, which is circled.



effrey's 33-page eBook also reveals a useful tool to help you avoid "whipsaws."

You can read the first two chapters for FREE for a limited time, once you become a Club EWI member.

The first two chapters reveal:

* The Dual Moving Average Cross-Over System
* Moving Average Price Channel System
* Combining the Crossover and Price Channel Techniques

Jeffrey's insights are all about making you a better trader. Remember, the first two eBook chapters are FREE through November 30. So take advantage of this limited time offer by clicking here!

This article was syndicated by Elliott Wave International and was originally published under the headline Discover the Dynamics of Using Moving Averages. EWI is the world's largest market forecasting firm. Its staff of full-time analysts led by Chartered Market Technician Robert Prechter provides 24-hour-a-day market analysis to institutional and private investors around the world.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

How to Find Correct Elliott Wave Patterns in Market Charts

(Note: This video was originally recorded on August 10, 2007)
In this timeless trading lesson on Elliott wave analysis, Elliott Wave International's Senior Currency Analyst Jim Martens gives you an answer to a very important question: "If you've identified the wrong Elliott Wave pattern, how do you find the right one?"

NEW! Get 32 pages of FREE practical trading lessons in EWI's new Trader's Classroom eBook.




Download your FREE Trader's Classroom eBook now.
A few minutes of learning not enough? Get 32 pages of free practical lessons in EWI's new Trader's Classroom eBook. Taken from EWI's Jeffrey Kennedy's renowned Trader's Classroom series, this FREE 32-page collection of actionable lessons can help you find opportunities in commodities and other markets with more confidence.

About the Publisher, Elliott Wave International
Founded in 1979 by Robert R. Prechter Jr., Elliott Wave International (EWI) is the world's largest market forecasting firm. Its staff of full-time analysts provides 24-hour-a-day market analysis to institutional and private investors around the world.

The Next Major Disaster Developing for Bond Holders

A must-read FREE report for investors in fixed-income markets like Treasury bonds, municipal bonds or high-yield bonds

By Elliott Wave International

Elliott wave analysis can warn you of trend changes when the rest of the investment public least expects a market reversal. With that in mind, we have created a new report for our free Club EWI members: "The Next Major Disaster Developing for Bond Holders."

In this free report, you get some of the latest commentary on fixed-income markets adapted from various Elliott Wave International's publications, including 2010 issues of Robert Prechter's monthly Elliott Wave Theorist and its sister publication, The Elliott Wave Financial Forecast.

Enjoy this excerpt -- and for details on how to read this important Club EWI report free, today, look below.

------------------------------

The Next Major Disaster Developing for Bond Holders
(excerpt)

The Elliott Wave Theorist -- October 2010
(By Robert Prechter, EWI president)

...History shows that investors have been attracted like moths to a flame to four consecutive pyres: the NASDAQ in 2000, real estate in 2006, the blue chips in 2007 and commodities in 2008. Now they are flitting across the veranda to a mesmerizing blue flame: high yield bonds. Bonds pay high yields when the issuers are in deep trouble and cannot otherwise attract investment capital. The public is chasing a large return on capital without considering return of it. ...



he Elliott Wave Financial Forecast -- October 2010
(By Steve Hochberg and Pete Kendall)

The rise in optimism since early 2009 has allowed corporations to issue the lowest grade debt at a record rate, even more than in the middle of the incredible expanding debt bubble of the mid-2000s. The annual total of $189.9 billion to date is a record, and the entire fourth quarter still lies ahead.

This is a stunning testimony to just how desperate investors are for the returns they grew so accustomed to during the old bull market. The Moody’s BAA-to-Treasury spread (see chart in the free report -- Ed.) has been widening since [April] and has made a series of lower highs in August and again in September. This behavior reveals an emerging preference for perceived safer debt even as junk bond issuance races higher. It is a critical non-confirmation...

Read the rest of this important report online now, free! Here's what else you'll learn:

* How Investors Are Looking Past Red Flags in Muni Market
* What You Should Know About Today's "High-Grade" Bonds
* The Answer To Bond Selection
* MORE

This article was syndicated by Elliott Wave International and was originally published under the headline The Next Major Disaster Developing for Bond Holders. EWI is the world's largest market forecasting firm. Its staff of full-time analysts led by Chartered Market Technician Robert Prechter provides 24-hour-a-day market analysis to institutional and private investors around the world.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Prechter On Market Rally

In the video below, Robert Prechter talks to Yahoo! Finance Tech Ticker host Aaron Task and Henry Blodget about extreme readings in various indicators that confirm his bear-market forecast.


Video: Prechter On Market Rally


(Note: This interview was originally recorded on September 20, 2010)


In the video below, Robert Prechter talks to Yahoo! Finance Tech Ticker host Aaron Task and Henry Blodget about extreme readings in various indicators that confirm his bear-market forecast.






Get Up to Speed on Robert Prechter's Latest Perspective — Download this Special FREE Report Now.




About the Publisher, Elliott Wave International
Founded in 1979 by Robert R. Prechter Jr., Elliott Wave International (EWI) is the world's largest market forecasting firm. Its staff of full-time analysts provides 24-hour-a-day market analysis to institutional and private investors around the world.

Friday, September 3, 2010

Too Big To Fail...Is There Ever An End?

This is the FDIC's Report on Too Big To Fail...

Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission

Governmental Rescues Of "Too Big To Fail" Financial Institutions

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Efficient Market Hypothesis: R.I.P.

August 19, 2010
By Elliott Wave International


Of all the belief systems of Wall Street, few can claim the devoted following of the Efficient Market Hypothesis, the idea that stock prices adhere to the same laws of supply-and-demand that govern retail products. Once coined the theoretical "Parthenon" of economics, this notion has consistently endured the test of time ----- until now. Academics and advisors across the globe are currently exposing crack after crack in the "Efficient" model so deep as to bring the entire theory crashing to the ground.

"The EMH is not only dead," writes a July 29, 2010 news source. "It's really, most sincerely dead." (Minyanville)

As to what caused the theory's collapse -- one recent business journal offers this insight:

"Financial markets do not operate the same way as those for other goods and services. When the price of a television set or software package goes up, demand for it generally falls. When the prices of a financial asset rises, demand generally rises." (The Economist)

Here's the thing. SIX years ago, Elliott Wave International president Bob Prechter pronounced the exact same finding in his April 2004 Elliott Wave Theorist. (Read that full-length publication today, absolutely free by clicking on the hyperlink) In that groundbreaking report, Bob presented the compelling picture below that shows how investors increase their percentage of stock holdings as prices rise, and decrease them as prices fall:



The next question is why? Answer: Motivation: i.e. the purchase of goods and services is about need; while the purchase of stocks is about desire. Here, Bob Prechter's 2004 Theorist takes the rein:

"The fact is that everyday in finance, investors are uncertain. So they look to the herd for guidance. Because herds are ruled by the majority -- financial market trends are based on little more than the shared mood of investors -- how they feel -- which is the province of the emotional areas of the brain (limbic system), not the rational ones (neocortex)... Buyers, in a rising market appear unconsciously to think, 'The herd must know where the food is. Run with the herd and you will prosper.' Sellers in a falling market appear to unconsciously think, 'The herd must know that there's a lion racing toward us. Run with the herd or you will die.'"

Prechter and contributor Wayne Parker then expanded on his landmark observation in the 2007 Journal of Behavioral Finance. (Also available, absolutely free by clicking on the hyperlink)

In the end, it's not enough to just tear down the long-standing EMH. One must build another, more accurate model up in its place. And in the 2004 Theorist, Bob Prechter does just that with the Wave Principle, which reconciles the technical and psychological sides of stock market behavior into this key point: Herding impulses, while not rational, are also NOT random. They unfold in clear and calculable wave patterns as reflected in the price action of financial markets.

As the mainstream media continues to jump on board Prechter's Financial/Economic Dichotomy Theory, you can read both of Prechter's original writings. Enjoy your complimentary access to the 2004 April 2004 Elliott Wave Theorist and the 2007 Journal of Behavioral Finance.

Read some of the latest nuggets directly from Robert Prechter's desk -- FREE. Click here to download a free report packed with recent quotes from Prechter's Elliott Wave Theorist.

This article was syndicated by Elliott Wave International and was originally published under the headline Efficient Market Hypothesis: R.I.P.. EWI is the world's largest market forecasting firm. Its staff of full-time analysts lead by Chartered Market Technician Robert Prechter provides 24-hour-a-day market analysis to institutional and private investors around the world.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Slicing the Neckline: A Classic Technical Pattern Agrees with the Elliott Wave Count

August 17, 2010
By Elliott Wave International


In the August issue of his Elliott Wave Theorist, market forecaster Robert Prechter alerted readers that the U.S. stock market was slicing the neckline of a classic head-and-shoulders pattern in technical analysis, and that this may send the market into critical condition.

Prechter said that when the Elliott wave count and a head-and-shoulders pattern are saying the same thing about the stock market, it's best to pay attention.

Read some of the latest nuggets directly from Robert Prechter's desk -- FREE. Click here to download a free report packed with recent quotes directly from Prechter's Elliott Wave Theorist.

Here's how the August issue of the Elliott Wave Financial Forecast, the sister publication to Prechter's Theorist, described the head and shoulders pattern unfolding in the stock market:

"The weekly Dow chart [below] shows the development of an intermediate-term, head-and-shoulders pattern from the January high at 10,729.90 to the present. The January high marks the left shoulder, the April 26 high at 11,258 is the head, and the right shoulder is now ending. The April [Theorist] discussed the pertinent characteristics that Edwards and Magee used to define this technical pattern ... all apply to the current formation. Observe how weekly stock trading volume has contracted during the development of the right shoulder, a necessary trait of this pattern. The downward-sloping neckline -- exactly as on the big ten year pattern -- displays market weakness, which is consistent with our interpretation of the wave structure."

This chart shows the head-and-shoulders pattern.


Here's what Robert Prechter himself said in a recent Elliott Wave Theorist:

"Generally, when the neckline slopes downward, the right shoulder does not rise to the level of the left shoulder ..."

Please look at the chart again -- then re-read Prechter's quote.

Read some of the latest nuggets directly from Robert Prechter's desk -- FREE. Click here to download a free report packed with recent quotes from Prechter's Elliott Wave Theorist.

This article was syndicated by Elliott Wave International and was originally published under the headline Slicing the Neckline: When the Market May Go into "Critical Condition". EWI is the world's largest market forecasting firm. Its staff of full-time analysts lead by Chartered Market Technician Robert Prechter provides 24-hour-a-day market analysis to institutional and private investors around the world.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Deflation: First Step, Understand It

There is still time to prepare if deflation is indeed in our future.
August 16, 2010
By Elliott Wave International


"Fed's Bullard Raises Specter of Japanese-Style Deflation," read a July 29 Washington Post headline.

When the St. Louis Fed Chief speaks, people listen. Now that deflation -- something that EWI's president Robert Prechter has been warning about for several years -- is making mainstream news headlines, is it too late to prepare?

It's not too late.

There are still steps you can take if deflation is indeed in our future. The first step is to understand what it is. So we've put together a special, free, 60-page Club EWI resource, "The Guide to Understanding Deflation: Robert Prechter’s most important warnings about deflation." Enjoy this quick excerpt. (For details on how to read this important report free, look below.)

When Does Deflation Occur?
By Robert Prechter

To understand inflation and deflation, we have to understand the terms money and credit.

Money is a socially accepted medium of exchange, value storage and final payment; credit may be summarized as a right to access money. In today’s economy, most credit is lent, so people often use the terms "credit" and "debt" interchangeably, as money lent by one entity is simultaneously money borrowed by another.

Deflation requires a precondition: a major societal buildup in the extension of credit (and its flip side, the assumption of debt). Austrian economists Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich Hayek warned of the consequences of credit expansion, as have a handful of other economists, who today are mostly ignored. Bank credit and Elliott wave expert Hamilton Bolton, in a 1957 letter, summarized his observations this way:

In reading a history of major depressions in the U.S. from 1830 on, I was impressed with the following:
(a) All were set off by a deflation of excess credit. This was the one factor in common.
(b) Sometimes the excess-of-credit situation seemed to last years before the bubble broke.
(c) Some outside event, such as a major failure, brought the thing to a head, but the signs were visible many months, and in some cases years, in advance.
(d) None was ever quite like the last, so that the public was always fooled thereby.
(e) Some panics occurred under great government surpluses of revenue (1837, for instance) and some under great government deficits.

Near the end of a major expansion, few creditors expect default, which is why they lend freely to weak borrowers. Few borrowers expect their fortunes to change, which is why they borrow freely. The psychological aspect of deflation and depression cannot be overstated. ...

Read the rest of this important 60-page Robert Prechter's report online now, free! Here's what else you'll learn:

* What Makes Deflation Likely Today?
* How Big a Deflation?
* Why Falling Interest Rates in This Environment Will Be Bearish
* Myth: "Deflation Will Cause a Run on the Dollar, Which Will Make Prices Rise"
* Myth: "Debt Is Not as High as It Seems"
* Myth: "War Will Bail Out the Economy"
* Myth: "The Fed Will Stop Deflation"

This article was syndicated by Elliott Wave International and was originally published under the headline Deflation: First Step, Understand It. EWI is the world's largest market forecasting firm. Its staff of full-time analysts lead by Chartered Market Technician Robert Prechter provides 24-hour-a-day market analysis to institutional and private investors around the world.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Stress Test: How to Find the Safest Banks in the U.S. and Abroad

August 3, 2010
By Elliott Wave International

Stress test results for the biggest European banks were recently released, while the largest U.S. banks took their first stress tests in May 2009. But most people don't really care how much stress their banks are under; they are more worried about their own stress levels. One thing that adds to personal stress is worrying about whether their deposits are in a safe place. Bob Prechter has encouraged people to find the safest banks for their money since he originally wrote his New York Times best-selling book, Conquer the Crash: You Can Survive and Prosper in a Deflationary Depression in 2002. This excerpt explains why banks of all sizes are riskier than they used to be (think about portfolios stuffed with derivatives, emerging market debt and non-performing commercial loans). You can also get a list of the Top 100 Safest U.S. Banks -- two banks per state -- that was just updated in late June with the latest available data by joining Club EWI and receiving EWI's Safe Banks report.

* * * * *
Excerpted from Conquer the Crash: You Can Survive and Prosper in a Deflationary Depression, by Robert Prechter

Many major national and international banks around the world have huge portfolios of “emerging market” debt, mortgage debt, consumer debt and weak corporate debt. I cannot understand how a bank trusted with the custody of your money could ever even think of buying bonds issued by Russia or Argentina or any other unstable or spendthrift government. As At the Crest of the Tidal Wave put it in 1995, “Today’s emerging markets will soon be submerging markets.” That metamorphosis began two years later. The fact that banks and other investment companies can repeatedly ride such “investments” all the way down to write-offs is outrageous.

Many banks today also have a shockingly large exposure to leveraged derivatives such as futures, options and even more exotic instruments. The underlying value of assets represented by such financial derivatives at quite a few big banks is greater than the total value of all their deposits. The estimated representative value of all derivatives in the world today is $90 trillion, over half of which is held by U.S. banks. Many banks use derivatives to hedge against investment exposure, but that strategy works only if the speculator on the other side of the trade can pay off if he’s wrong.

Relying upon, or worse, speculating in, leveraged derivatives poses one of the greatest risks to banks that have succumbed to the lure. Leverage almost always causes massive losses eventually because of the psychological stress that owning them induces. You have already read of the tremendous debacles at Barings Bank, Long-Term [sic] Capital Management, Enron and other institutions due to speculating in leveraged derivatives. It is traditional to discount the representative value of derivatives because traders will presumably get out of losing positions well before they cost as much as what they represent. Well, maybe. It is at least as common a human reaction for speculators to double their bets when the market goes against a big position. At least, that’s what bankers might do with your money.

Today’s bank analysts assure us, as a headline from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution put it on December 29, 2001, that “Banks [Are] Well-Capitalized.” Banks today are indeed generally considered well capitalized compared to their situation in the 1980s. Unfortunately, that condition is mostly thanks to the great asset mania of the 1990s, which, as explained in Book One, is probably over. Much of the record amount of credit that banks have extended, such as that lent for productive enterprise or directly to strong governments, is relatively safe. Much of what has been lent to weak governments, real estate developers, government-sponsored enterprises, stock market speculators, venture capitalists, consumers (via credit cards and consumer-debt “investment” packages), and so on, is not. One expert advises, “The larger, more diversified banks at this point are the safer place to be.” That assertion will surely be severely tested in the coming depression.

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.

Financial companies are enjoying big advances in the current stock market rally. Depositors today trust their banks more than they trust government or business in general. For example, a recent poll asked web surfers which among a list of seven types of institutions they would most trust to operate a secure identity service. Banks got nearly 50 percent of the vote. General bank trustworthiness is yet another faith that will be shattered in a depression.

Well before a worldwide depression dominates our daily lives, you will need to deposit your capital into safe institutions. I suggest using two or more to spread the risk even further. They must be far better than the ones that today are too optimistically deemed “liquid” and “safe” by both rating services and banking officials.

Inside the revealing free report, you'll discover:

* The 100 Safest U.S. Banks (2 for each state)
* Where your money goes after you make a deposit
* How your fractional-reserve bank works
* What risks you might be taking by relying on the FDIC's guarantee

Please protect your money. Download the free 10-page "Safe Banks" report now.
Learn more about the "Safe Banks" report, and download it for free here.

This article, Stress Test: How to Find the Safest Banks in the U.S. and Abroad,was syndicated by Elliott Wave International. EWI is the world's largest market forecasting firm. Its staff of full-time analysts lead by Chartered Market Technician Robert Prechter provides 24-hour-a-day market analysis to institutional and private investors around the world.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

DJIA's 200-Day Moving Average: Will the Dow stay above or below this demarcation line?

June 23, 2010
By Elliott Wave International

Moving averages are one of the most widely followed indicator in technical analysis.
Simply put, when the price of an index or stock stays above a particular price moving average line on a chart, that price level serves as support -- a level where buyers reside.
If the price falls below a moving average line and "can't" break through from the underside, this price level is a line of resistance -- a price level where sellers hover.
That's an easy explanation of moving averages for you.

Learn to integrate Elliott wave analysis with other technical disciplines. Read the FREE Ultimate Technical Analysis eBook to discover some of the favorite technical analysis methods used by the analysts at Elliott Wave International. Learn more and download your free, 50-page technical analysis ebook here.

A commonly watched line is the 200-day moving average.

After the DJIA fell below its 200-day moving average in May, prices remained mainly below the line until June 15, when the market rose 213 points. But, as this chart from Elliott Wave International's June 16 Short Term Update shows, the NYSE volume has remained muted:



"There was no follow-through today. More stocks closed down than up on the day on the NYSE, within the S&P 500 and also for the DJ Composite. Today's Big Board volume was similarly slow relative to yesterday. ..." -- Steven Hochberg, Short Term Update, June 16, 2010

With a lack of buying conviction, how long will the stock indexes remain above the 200-day moving average?

For the answer, you need to look at the DJIA's Elliott wave structure. It strongly suggests the market will move in a definite direction in a matter of days or weeks.

Learn to integrate Elliott wave analysis with other technical disciplines. Read the FREE Ultimate Technical Analysis eBook to discover some of the favorite technical analysis methods used by the analysts at Elliott Wave International. Learn more and download your free, 50-page technical analysis ebook here.

This article, DJIA's 200-Day Moving Average,was syndicated by Elliott Wave International. EWI is the world's largest market forecasting firm. Its staff of full-time analysts lead by Chartered Market Technician Robert Prechter provides 24-hour-a-day market analysis to institutional and private investors around the world.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Enjoy 8 Free Chapters from Robert Prechter's Conquer the Crash

Prechter's New York Times and Wall Street Journal business best-seller remains a useful read.

April 28, 2010
By Editorial Staff


n 2002, Elliott Wave International's president Robert Prechter published his New York Times and Wall Street Journal business best-seller Conquer the Crash, a prescient book that explained why a financial crisis was inevitable and predicted almost exactly how it would unfold.

Now in the 2nd edition, Conquer the Crash remains a very useful read. To give you an idea of just how useful, we are releasing 8 chapters of the book to all 150,000+ free Club EWI members. Here's an excerpt. (Details on how to read full report are below.)

-------------------------

Robert Prechter
Conquer the Crash
Chapter 23, "What To Do With Your Pension Plan," excerpt


Make sure you fully understand all aspects of your government's individual retirement plans. In the U.S., this includes such structures as IRAs, 401Ks and Keoghs. If you anticipate severe system-wide financial and political stresses, you may decide to liquidate any such plans and pay whatever penalty is required. Why? Because there are strings attached to the perk of having your money sheltered from taxes. You may do only what the government allows you to do with the money. It restricts certain investments and can change the list at any time. It charges a penalty for early withdrawal and can change the amount of the penalty at any time.

What is the worst that could happen? In Argentina, the government continued to spend more than it took in until it went broke trying to pay the interest on its debt. In December 2001, it seized $2.3 billion dollars worth of deposits in private pension funds to pay its bills. ...

With the retirement setup in the U.S., the government need not be as direct as Argentina's. It need merely assert, after a stock market fall decimates many people's savings, that stocks are too risky to hold for retirement purposes. Under the guise of protecting you, it could ban stocks and perhaps other investments in tax-exempt pension plans and restrict assets to one category: "safe" long-term U.S. Treasury bonds. Then it could raise the penalty of early withdrawal to 100 percent. Bingo. The government will have seized the entire $2 trillion -- or what's left of it given a crash -- that today is held in government-sponsored, tax-deferred 401K private pension plans. I'm not saying it will happen, but it could, and wouldn't you rather have your money safely under your own discretion? ...

Perhaps you have no such opportunity for a tax saving and do not want to pay the penalty attached to premature withdrawal. If your balance is high enough, you may wish to consider converting your retirement plan investments into an annuity at a safe insurance company (see Chapter 24). It is highly likely (though not assured) that such investments would be left alone even in a national financial emergency. ...

If you or your family owns its own small company and is the sole beneficiary of its pension or profit sharing plan, you should lodge its assets in a safe bank or money market fund. As an alternative, depending upon your age and requirements, you may consider converting it into an annuity, issued by a safe insurance company. Such insurance companies are few and far between, but the next chapter shows you where to find them.

Read the rest of the 8 free chapters from Robert Prechter's Conquer the Crash now, free! All you need is to create a free Club EWI profile. Here's what you'll learn:

* Chapter 10: Money, Credit and the Federal Reserve Banking System
* Chapter 13: Can the Fed Stop Deflation?
* Chapter 23: What To Do With Your Pension Plan
* Chapter 28: How to Identify a Safe Haven
* Chapter 29: Calling in Loans and Paying off Debt
* Chapter 30: What You Should Do If You Run a Business
* Chapter 32: Should You Rely on Government to Protect You?
* Chapter 33: A Short List of Imperative "Do's" and Crucial "Don'ts"

Keep reading this free report now -- all you need to do is create a free Club EWI profile.

Elliott Wave International (EWI) is the world's largest market forecasting firm. EWI's 20-plus analysts provide around-the-clock forecasts of every major market in the world via the internet and proprietary web systems like Reuters and Bloomberg. EWI's educational services include conferences, workshops, webinars, video tapes, special reports, books and one of the internet's richest free content programs, Club EWI.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Raising The BAR: Bar Patterns & Trading Opportunities

How a 3-in-1 formation in cotton "triggered" the January selloff
April 16, 2010

By Nico Isaac


or Elliott Wave International's chief commodity analyst Jeffrey Kennedy, the single most important thing for a trader to have is STYLE-- and no, we're not talking business casual versus sporty chic. Trading "style," as in any of the following: top/bottom picker, strictly technical, cyclical, or pattern watcher.

Jeffrey himself is (and always has been) a "trend" trader, meaning: he uses the Wave Principle as his primary tool, with a few secondary means of select technical studies. Such as: Bar Patterns. And Jeffrey counts one bar pattern in particular as his favorite: the 3-in-1.

Here's the gist: The 3-in-1 bar pattern occurs when the price range of the fourth bar (named, the "set-up" bar) engulfs the highs and lows of the last three bars. When prices penetrate above the high -- or -- below the low of the set-up bar, it often signals the resumption of the larger trend. Where this breach occurs is called the "trigger bar." On this, the following diagram offers a clear illustration:



Now, how about a real world example of the 3-1 formation in the recent history of a major commodity market? Well, that's where the picture below comes in. It's a close-up of Cotton from the February 5, 2010 Daily Futures Junctures.



As you can see, a classic 3-in-1 bar pattern emerged in Cotton at the very start of the New Year. Within a few day the trigger bar closed below the low of the set-up bar, signaling the market's return to the downside. Immediately after, cotton prices plunged in a powerful selloff to four-month lows.

February arrived, and with it the end of cotton's decline. In the same chart you can see how Jeffrey used the Wave Principle to calculate a potential downside target for the market at 66.33. This area marked the point where Wave (5) equaled wave (1), a reliable for impulse patterns. Since then a winning streak in cotton has carried prices to new contract highs.

This example shows the power of a fully-equipped technical analysis "toolbox." By using the Wave Principle with Bar Patterns, one has a solid, objective chance of anticipating the trend in volatile markets.

And in a 15-page report titled "How To Use Bar Patterns To Spot Trade Set-ups," Jeffrey Kennedy identifies the top SIX Bar Patterns included in his personal repertoire. They are Double Inside Days, Arrows, Popguns, 3-in-1, Reverse 3-in-1, and Outside-Inside Reversal.

In this comprehensive collection, Jeffrey provides each pattern with a definition, illustrations of its form, lessons on its application and how to incorporate it into Elliott wave analysis, historical examples of its occurrence in major commodity markets, and ultimately -- compelling proof of how it identified swift and sizable moves.
Best of all is, you can read the entire, 15-page report today at absolutely no cost. You read that right. The limited "How To Use Bar Patterns To Spot Trade Setups" is available with any free, Club EWI membership.

Nico Isaac writes for Elliott Wave International, a market forecasting and technical analysis firm.

Thursday, April 1, 2010

The Wave Principle: Where The Rubber Hits The Road

Elliott wave analysis saw corn's biggest moves coming
April 1, 2010
By Nico Isaac


You could be to technical analysis what tweens are to texting, and it wouldn't make a lick of difference: You still wouldn't necessarily be trading at your fullest potential. The reason being: Without Elliott wave in your technical analysis toolbox, it's like looking at the world of opportunity through a narrow keyhole and ultimately missing the big picture.

The Wave Principle can help you unlock that door. Teaching you how to do it is the goal of the latest free educational report from our Club EWI resource center, titled "How the Wave Principle Can Improve Your Trading." In this six-page article, our editorial staff reveals these (and many more) ways in which the wave model makes up for the ways ordinary technical methods fall short:

* Technical studies can get you on board a trend, but the Wave Principe can say specifically at which point that trend has failed -- namely, when prices violate critical support or resistance levels in your price charts.
* Technical studies can identify the direction of a trend, but the Wave Principle can determine how high prices will rally or how low they will fall.
* Technical studies can recognize the strength of a trend, but the Wave Principle can discern the maturity of one; when it's time to take profits or raise protective stops.
* Technical studies can recognize the strength of a trend, but the Wave Principle can discern the maturity of one; when it's time to take profits or raise protective stops.

Now for the fun part: Putting the Wave Principle to use in the real-time action of a well known market. For this, we turn to EWI's chief commodity analyst and long-time Futures Junctures Service editor Jeffrey Kennedy. (Note: Futures Junctures Service is a two-part package that includes Daily Futures Junctures and its long-term sister publication Monthly Futures Junctures.)

Over the last year, Jeffrey's timely navigation of the Corn market showcases the ability of Wave analysis to identify high-probability trade set-ups. To illustrate, we'll start with this price chart of corn since March 2009 (courtesy of ino.com) -- punctuated with brief excerpts from Jeffrey's Monthly Futures Junctures.



Below are the expanded versions of Jeffrey's analysis:

June 2009 Monthly Futures Junctures:

"The Party's Over In Grains: The corrective advance in corn that began in December 2008 is complete at 450 (basis July). This means that the stage is set for renewed selling that should push corn prices to below the 2008 low of 325 1/4. Moreover, considering the manner and extent of the decline since the early June top, wave patterns argue strongly that this is an intermediate tradable top."

September 2009 Monthly Futures Junctures: Presented an updated chart that showed prices set to embark on a powerful uptrend above $4 and wrote: "After a Rally, More Decline."

January 2010 Monthly Futures Junctures: Price chart showed wave c of a zigzag coming to an end and wrote: Wave c = .618 times wave a + wave a at $4.26.



When applied skillfully, no method gets you into a trend earlier and out of a failed move faster than the Wave Principle. Read the entire free 6-page report "How the Wave Principle Can Improve Your Trading" today.

Here's what you'll learn:

* How the Wave Principle provides you with price targets
* How it gives you specific "points of ruin": At what point does a trade fail?
* What specific trading opportunities the Wave Principle offers you
* How to use the Wave Principle to set protective stops
* Keep reading this free lesson now.

Nico Isaac writes for Elliott Wave International, a market forecasting and technical analysis firm.

Monday, March 29, 2010

Fibonacci Techniques for Math Geeks -- and Everyone Else, Too

March 29, 2010
By Editorial Staff

The word Fibonacci (pronounced fib-oh-notch-ee) can draw either blank stares or an enthusiastic response. There's hardly any in-between ground. But for those who ask how an esoteric mathematical relationship can apply to price charts and trading, here's a quick lesson. Everyone who uses Elliott wave analysis will sooner or later want to try using Fibo techniques, and Elliott Wave International's Jeff Kennedy has written about five of them in a Trader's Classroom column. For an example of why people are so fascinated by Fibonacci, read part of Kennedy's article here:

* * * * *

How to Apply Fibonacci Math to Real-World Trading

Have you ever given an expensive toy to a small child and watched while the child had less fun playing with the toy than with the box that it came in? In fact, I can remember some of the boxes I played with as a child that became spaceships, time machines or vehicles to use on dinosaur safaris.

In many ways, Fibonacci math is just like the box kids enjoy playing with imaginatively for hours on end. It's hard to imagine a wrong way to apply Fibonacci ratios or multiples to financial markets, and new ways are being tested every day. Let's look at just some of the ways I apply Fibonacci math in my own analysis.

Fibonacci Retracements

Financial markets demonstrate an uncanny propensity to reverse at certain Fibonacci levels. The most common Fibonacci ratios I use to forecast retracements are .382, .500 and .618. On occasion, I find .236 and .786 useful, but I prefer to stick with the big three. You can imagine how helpful these can be: Knowing where a corrective move is likely to end often identifies high-probability trade setups (Figures 7-1 and 7-2).

Figure 7-1


Figure 7-2




Kennedy then goes on to explain Fibonacci extensions, circles, fans and time, using 11 charts to show what he means. Whether or not you are a math geek, you can learn a lot from this six-page introduction to Fibonacci math.

Get Your Fibonacci Techniques Right Here. Jeffrey Kennedy has been using and teaching these techniques for years, and he has written a quick description of five Fibonacci techniques in his Trader's Classroom column -- now available to you for free by signing up as a Club EWI member. Read more about the 6-page report here.

Elliott Wave International (EWI) is the worlds largest market forecasting firm. EWIs 20-plus analysts provide around-the-clock forecasts of every major market in the world via the internet and proprietary web systems like Reuters and Bloomberg. EWIs educational services include conferences, workshops, webinars, video tapes, special reports, books and one of the internets richest free content programs, Club EWI.

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Wave Principle Crash Course: There's No Going Back

Free video tutorial available to all Club EWI members
By Nico Isaac

For over ten decades, the mainstream financial world has embraced the view that external news events drive trend changes in the markets. In less than ten minutes, EWI's senior tutorial instructor Wayne Gorman shatters that very idea into a fine dust, swept away into thin air.

In part one of his exclusive, three-part Club EWI video series "Why Use The Wave Principle," Wayne first assesses the pitfalls of relying on macroeconomic models to forecast; namely: "An investor is lured into the market at just the worst time, when it's time to sell, and forced out just at the best time to buy."

As for real world examples of this happening, Wayne spans three hundred years of financial history to reveal how the most pivotal economic, political, and environmental events failed to alter the course of their respective markets. Here, the free video includes groundbreaking charts on these (and more) well known episodes:

* The S&P 500 and Enron from 2000-2002: The stock market ROSE and continued to proceed upward AFTER the largest US corporate scandal and bankruptcy ever (at the time).
* The Dow Industrials and GDP quarterly data from 1970 to early 2000s: After the release of major negative GDP numbers, the market for the most part ROSE, just the opposite of what most market analysts and investors expect.
* The Dow and profound political events over the last 80 years: In the 1930s and 1940s, a series of negative incidents -- i.e. Hitler rising to power, World War II, and the Holocaust -- preceded a powerful uptrend in stocks all the way into the 1960s.
* Stock market charts of the five countries most affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami (India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand). Four out of the five ROSE after the natural disaster...



Believe it or not, we've only scratched the surface. In his myth-busting, free video "Why Use the Wave Principle," Wayne Gorman presents a total of 40 charts that capture failed fundamental analysis of the world's leading financial markets. Wayne recalls this expression from a famous, Nobel Prize winning economist:

"Economic reasoning will be of no value in cases of uncertainty."

And he offers this response:

"But isn't that what we have in financial markets: cases of uncertainty? We need a different type of reasoning, one that will help us to avoid the pitfalls shown on the previous charts. That's why the Wave Principle is so important. It offers a unique perspective and a market discipline of rules and guidelines that help investors avoid buying at tops and liquidating at bottoms. It helps to explain and understand trends before they happen."

The flaw in Economic 101, cause-and-effect theory is one of the easiest things to prove. But it's also one of the hardest things for many investors to accept. Now is the time to do so. Watch the free "Why Use the Wave Principle" video in its entirety today at absolutely no cost. Simply sign on to join the rapidly expanding Club EWI and take advantage of the amazing educational benefits membership has to offer.

Nico Isaac writes for Elliott Wave International, a market forecasting and technical analysis firm.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

What Does NOT Move Markets? Examining 8 Claims of Market Efficiency

By Susan Walker

If everyone says that shocks from outside the financial system -- so-called exogenous shocks -- can affect it for better or worse, they must be right.

It just sounds so darned logical, right? Economists believe this trope to be true, mainly because they believe that investors are rational thinkers who re-evaluate their positions after every new bit of relevant information turns up.

Beginning to sound slightly impossible? Well, yes.

It turns out that logic is exactly what's missing from this it-feels-so-right idea of rational reaction to exogenous shocks. Read an excerpt from Robert Prechter's February 2010 Elliott Wave Theorist to see how Prechter deals with this widely held belief.

Find out what really moves markets -- download the free 118-page Independent Investor eBook. The Independent Investor eBook shows you exactly what moves markets and what doesn't. You might be surprised to discover it's not the Fed or "surprise" news events. Learn more, and download your free ebook here.

* * * * *

Excerpted from Prechter's February 2010 Elliott Wave Theorist, published Feb. 19, 2010

The Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) argues that as new information enters the marketplace, investors revalue stocks accordingly. … In such a world, the market would fluctuate narrowly around equilibrium as minor bits of news about individual companies mostly canceled each other out. Then important events, which would affect the valuation of the market as a whole, would serve as “shocks” causing investors to adjust prices to a new level, reflecting that new information. One would see these reactions in real time, and investigators of market history would face no difficulties in identifying precisely what new information caused the change in prices. …

This is a simple idea and simple to test. But almost no one ever bothers to test it. According to the mindset of conventional economists, no one needs to test it; it just feels right; it must be right. It’s the only model anyone can think of. But socionomists [those who use the Wave Principle to make social predictions] have tested this idea multiple ways. And the result is not pretty for the theories that rely upon it.

The tests that we will examine are not rigorous or statistical. Our time and resources are limited. But in refuting a theory, extreme rigor is unnecessary. If someone says, “All leaves are green,” all one need do is show him a red one to refute the claim. I hope when we are done with our brief survey, you will see that the ubiquitous claim we challenge is more akin to economists saying “All leaves are made of iron.” We will be unable to find a single example from nature that fits.

* * *

In his February 2010 Elliott Wave Theorist, Prechter then goes on to show charts that examine each of these claims that encompass both economic and political events:

Claim #1: “Interest rates drive stock prices.”
Claim #2: “Rising oil prices are bearish for stocks.”
Claim #3: “An expanding trade deficit is bad for a nation’s economy and therefore bearish for stock prices.”
Claim #4: “Earnings drive stock prices.”
Claim #5: “GDP drives stock prices.”
Claim #6: “Wars are bullish/bearish for stock prices.”
Claim #7: “Peace is bullish for stocks.”
Claim #8: “Terrorist attacks would cause the stock market to drop.”

To protect your personal finances, it's important to think independently from the crowd, particularly when the crowd buys into what economists say.

Find out what really moves markets -- download the free 118-page Independent Investor eBook. The Independent Investor eBook shows you exactly what moves markets and what doesn't. You might be surprised to discover it's not the Fed or "surprise" news events. Learn more, and download your free ebook here.

Susan C. Walker writes for Elliott Wave International, a market forecasting and technical analysis company.

Friday, February 26, 2010

Use Bar Chart Patterns To Spot Trade Setups

How a 3-in-1 chart formation in cotton foresaw the January selloff
February 26, 2010
By Nico Isaac

For Elliott Wave International's chief commodity analyst Jeffrey Kennedy, the single most important thing for a trader to have is STYLE-- and no, we're not talking business casual versus sporty chic. Trading "style," as in any of the following: top/bottom picker, strictly technical, cyclical, or pattern watcher.

Jeffrey himself is, and always has been, a "trend" trader; meaning: he uses the Wave Principle as his primary tool, along with a few secondary means of select technical studies. Such as: Bar Patterns. And, of all of those, Jeffrey counts one bar pattern in particular as his absolute, all-time favorite: the 3-in-1.

Here's the gist: The 3-in-1 bar pattern occurs when the price range of the fourth bar (named, the "set-up" bar) engulfs the highs and lows of the preceding three bars. When prices move above the high or below the low of the set-up bar, it often signals the resumption of the larger trend. The point where this breach occurs is called the "trigger bar." On this, the following diagram offers a clear illustration:


For a real-world example of the 3-1 formation in the recent history of a major commodity market, take a look at this close-up of Cotton from Jeffrey Kennedy's February 5, 2010, Daily Futures Junctures.



As you can see, a classic 3-in-1 bar pattern emerged in Cotton at the very start of the new year. Then, within days of January, the trigger bar closed below the low of the set-up bar, signaling the market's return to the downside. Immediately after, cotton prices plunged in a powerful selloff to four-month lows.

Then February arrived and with it, the end of cotton's decline. In the same chart, you can see how Jeffrey used the Wave Principle to calculate a potential downside target for the market at 66.33. This area marked the point where Wave (5) equaled wave (1), a common relationship. Since then, a winning streak in cotton has carried prices to new contract highs.

What this example tells you is that by tag-teaming the Wave Principle with Bar Patterns, you can have a higher objective chance of pinning the volatile markets to the ground.
To learn more, read Jeffrey Kennedy's exclusive, free 15-page report titled "How To Use Bar Patterns To Spot Trade Set-ups," where he shows you 6 bar patterns, his personal favorites.

Nico Isaac writes for Elliott Wave International, a market forecasting and technical analysis firm.

Surviving Deflation: First, Understand It

Deflation is more than just "falling prices." Robert Prechter explains why.
February 26, 2010

The following article is an excerpt from Elliott Wave International's free Club EWI resource, "The Guide to Understanding Deflation. Robert Prechter's Most Important Writings on Deflation."

The Primary Precondition of Deflation
Deflation requires a precondition: a major societal buildup in the extension of credit. Bank credit and Elliott wave expert Hamilton Bolton, in a 1957 letter, summarized his observations this way: "In reading a history of major depressions in the U.S. from 1830 on, I was impressed with the following: (a) All were set off by a deflation of excess credit. This was the one factor in common."

"The Fed Will Stop Deflation"
I am tired of hearing people insist that the Fed can expand credit all it wants. Sometimes an analogy clarifies a subject, so let’s try one.

It may sound crazy, but suppose the government were to decide that the health of the nation depends upon producing Jaguar automobiles and providing them to as many people as possible. To facilitate that goal, it begins operating Jaguar plants all over the country, subsidizing production with tax money. To everyone’s delight, it offers these luxury cars for sale at 50 percent off the old price. People flock to the showrooms and buy. Later, sales slow down, so the government cuts the price in half again. More people rush in and buy. Sales again slow, so it lowers the price to $900 each. People return to the stores to buy two or three, or half a dozen. Why not? Look how cheap they are! Buyers give Jaguars to their kids and park an extra one on the lawn. Finally, the country is awash in Jaguars. Alas, sales slow again, and the government panics. It must move more Jaguars, or, according to its theory -- ironically now made fact -- the economy will recede. People are working three days a week just to pay their taxes so the government can keep producing more Jaguars. If Jaguars stop moving, the economy will stop. So the government begins giving Jaguars away. A few more cars move out of the showrooms, but then it ends. Nobody wants any more Jaguars. They don’t care if they’re free. They can’t find a use for them. Production of Jaguars ceases. It takes years to work through the overhanging supply of Jaguars. Tax collections collapse, the factories close, and unemployment soars. The economy is wrecked. People can’t afford to buy gasoline, so many of the Jaguars rust away to worthlessness. The number of Jaguars -- at best -- returns to the level it was before the program began.

The same thing can happen with credit.

It may sound crazy, but suppose the government were to decide that the health of the nation depends upon producing credit and providing it to as many people as possible. To facilitate that goal, it begins operating credit-production plants all over the country, called Federal Reserve Banks. To everyone’s delight, these banks offer the credit for sale at below market rates. People flock to the banks and buy. Later, sales slow down, so the banks cut the price again. More people rush in and buy. Sales again slow, so they lower the price to one percent. People return to the banks to buy even more credit. Why not? Look how cheap it is! Borrowers use credit to buy houses, boats and an extra Jaguar to park out on the lawn. Finally, the country is awash in credit. Alas, sales slow again, and the banks panic. They must move more credit, or, according to its theory -- ironically now made fact -- the economy will recede. People are working three days a week just to pay the interest on their debt to the banks so the banks can keep offering more credit. If credit stops moving, the economy will stop. So the banks begin giving credit away, at zero percent interest. A few more loans move through the tellers’ windows, but then it ends. Nobody wants any more credit. They don’t care if it’s free. They can’t find a use for it. Production of credit ceases. It takes years to work through the overhanging supply of credit. Interest payments collapse, banks close, and unemployment soars. The economy is wrecked. People can’t afford to pay interest on their debts, so many bonds deteriorate to worthlessness. The value of credit -- at best -- returns to the level it was before the program began.

Jaguars, anyone?

Read the rest of this important 63-page deflation study now, free! Here's what you'll learn:

What Triggers the Change to Deflation
Why Deflationary Crashes and Depressions Go Together
Financial Values Can Disappear
Deflation is a Global Story
What Makes Deflation Likely Today?
How Big a Deflation?
More

Elliott Wave International (EWI) is the world’s largest market forecasting firm. EWI’s 20-plus analysts provide around-the-clock forecasts of every major market in the world via the internet and proprietary web systems like Reuters and Bloomberg. EWI’s educational services include conferences, workshops, webinars, video tapes, special reports, books and one of the internet’s richest free content programs, Club EWI.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

11 Commonplace Market Views: True or Myth?

By Susan C. Walker

"Cash on the sidelines is bullish for stocks." Have you ever heard some stock market pundit utter these words? Have you ever wondered if the statement were true? Read this item from the latest issue of The Elliott Wave Financial Forecast, and you'll wonder no more:

Myth -- Cash on the sidelines is bullish for stocks. This refrain rang like a gong all the way through the declines of 2000-2002 and 2007-2009. In February 2000, when mutual fund cash hit 4.2% (compared to 3.8% in November), The Elliott Wave Financial Forecast issued its “cash is king” advice. Once again, the word on the street is that there is way too much “cash on the sidelines” for stocks to fall precipitously. This chart shows net cash available to investors plotted beneath the DJIA. In December 2007, available net cash expanded to a new high, besting all extremes since at least 1992, a 15-year time span. Despite the presence of this mountain of cash, the DJIA lost more than half its entire value over the next 15 months. Indeed, as the chart shows, cash remained high right as the stock market entered the most intense part of the crash in 2008. Available cash does correlate with the market’s moves, but the market is in charge, not the cash.
--The Elliott Wave Financial Forecast, Jan. 29, 2010


Now take a look at these 10 statements and decide if they are true:

1. Earnings drive stock prices.
2. Small stocks are the place to be.
3. Worry about inflation rather than deflation.
4. It's enough to simply beat the market.
5. To do well investing, you have to diversify.
6. The FDIC can protect depositors.
7. It's bullish when the market ignores bad news.
8. Bubbles can unwind slowly.
9. People can make money speculating.
10. News and events drive the markets.


Bob Prechter and our other analysts have debunked each of these statements as a market myth. You can discover how we exposed these ideas as myths, and in turn make more informed decisions about your investing.

We've gathered the writings that expose these 10 statements as market myths in our 33-page eBook, called Market Myths Exposed. They come from two of our premier publications, The Elliott Wave Theorist and The Elliott Wave Financial Forecast, as well as two of our books, Prechter's Perspective and The Wave Principle of Human Social Behavior.

Get Market Myths Exposed for FREE
The 33-page eBook takes the 10 most dangerous investment myths head on and exposes the truth about each in a way every investor can understand. You will uncover important myths about diversifying your portfolio, the safety of your bank deposits, earnings reports, investment bubbles, inflation and deflation, small stocks, speculation, and more! Protect your financial future and change the way you view your investments forever! Learn more, and get your free eBook here.

Susan C. Walker writes for Elliott Wave International, a market forecasting and technical analysis company.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

S&P 500 And S&P 100 2010 Opening Range Charts

S&P 500 Index (click to enlarge)


OEX S&P 100 Index (click to enlarge)



14 Critical Lessons Every Trader Should Know

Download for free now: 14 Critical Lessons Every Trader Should Know

Our friends over at Elliott Wave International have brought back one of their most sought after free resources for one week only. The Best of Trader's Classroom eBook serves up the very best lessons from their popular -- and expensive -- Trader's Classroom Collection in one valuable 45-page report. If you aren't one of the thousands who downloaded this valuable resource in its original release, don't miss out on this rare second chance. The Best of Trader's Classroom eBook is free through February 16. Learn more and download your free report now.

U.S. Stocks: Will The Bears Relinquish Control?

February 10, 2010
By Nico Isaac

In case you were hiding out Tiger Woods' style far away from the mainstream media during the past month, let me be the first to say: January saw an abrupt end to the U.S. stock market's record-setting winning streak. Last count, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 4% in its worst monthly loss in a year.

And, according to one Feb. 1, 2010, MarketWatch story, "The time to consider an exit strategy" has officially arrived. Here, the article captures the public's astonishment turned acceptance of the Dow's boom-to-gloom shift:

"The Dow has shocked the bulls out of their complacency. After all, analysts were looking for the bull market to last until at least the second half of the year. Investors were not prepared for such a sharp decline and now at least some of the chatter has gone from 'how high will the market go?' to 'how low will it fall?' [emphasis added]"
Let me get this straight. The powers that be say it's time to "consider an exit strategy" -- AFTER the Dow has already plunged 700-plus points to land at its lowest level in two months. That's about as helpful as building a life raft AFTER your ship has begun to sink.

Let me get this straight. The powers that be say it's time to "consider an exit strategy" -- AFTER the Dow has already plunged 700-plus points to land at its lowest level in two months. That's about as helpful as building a life raft AFTER your ship has begun to sink.

Get a FREE 10-Lesson Tutorial on the Basics of the Wave Principle
The Wave Principle is a powerful tool when used properly. This free tutorial gives you the foundation you need to put the power of Elliott to work for you. Learn more, and get your free 10-lesson tutorial here.

Then, those same sources go on to say investors were "not prepared" for the degree and depth of the stock market's decline. This is only partly true. On Main Street, the early January flood of bull-is-back-type headlines gushed in and washed all the bears away.

Yet, on our "Elliott wave" Street, preparation for a "sharp" decline in the Dow was fast in place. One week before the market turned down from its Jan. 19 high, Elliott Wave International's Short TermUpdate went on high bearish alert with this commanding insight:

"The Dow's diagonal remains in tact and its form is clear. We will afford the pattern a bit of leeway over the next one-two days... but the structure is very late in development. That means a trend reversal is fast approaching. A potential stopping range is 10,725-10,740. A close beneath [critical support] will confirm that the diagonal is over and the market has started a down phase that should draw prices significantly lower. Once a diagonal is complete, prices swiftly retrace to near its origin, which in this case is 10,263.90, the very first downside target." (Jan. 13 Short Term Update)

Soon after, the Dow peaked within four ticks of our cited upside target; next, it went on to fulfill the second part of its Elliott wave script with a staggering triple-digit slide to "near the origin" of the diagonal triangle pattern, and then some.

That leaves one question: Are the bears now ready to relinquish control of stocks? Don't wait for the market action to "shock" you.

Get a FREE 10-Lesson Tutorial on the Basics of the Wave Principle
The first thing you should know is that the Wave Principle is not a black-box trading system. Elliott waves provide a context for past and present price action. Once you identify to the most likely structure of the pattern unfolding, you can then formulate a forecast for the future. The Wave Principle is a powerful tool when used properly. This free tutorial gives you the foundation you need to put the power of Elliott to work for you. Learn more, and get your free 10-lesson tutorial here.

Nico Isaac writes for Elliott Wave International, a market forecasting and technical analysis firm.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Bernanke's Burn Notice -- Why Now? Research Reveals Insight Into Fed Chairman's Popularity

By Elliott Wave International

Like a spy who gets a burn notice, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has suddenly lost his support.

Bernanke has gone from being Time magazine's Man of the Year in 2009 to … what? A Fed chairman embroiled in a controversial reconfirmation process before U.S. Congress. Why the sudden turnaround in his fortunes?

Robert Prechter, president of the research firm Elliott Wave International, has written about the history of the Fed and its chairmen several times over the years, and his research shows that their popularity rises and falls with social mood, which is measured by the stock market. Here is a compilation of excerpts from Prechter's monthly market letter, The Elliott Wave Theorist, from 2005-2009 about the trouble he sees brewing at the Fed.

Can the Fed Stop Deflation? Robert Prechter answers this all-important question in his Free Deflation Survival Guide. The guide gives you a 60-page ebook that will help you understand deflation and its effects on society; you'll even learn how to survive and prosper in such an environment. Download Your Free 60-Page Deflation eBook Here.

(November 2005) The Coming Change at the Fed | Public figureheads have a way of representing eras. This is certainly true of entertainment icons and politicians. The history of Fed chairmanship implies a similar tendency for changes of the guard to coincide with changes in social mood and therefore stock prices and the economy. [The chart below] depicts our social-mood meter—the DJIA—since the Fed's creation in 1913, marked with the reigning chairmen according to a list on the Fed's website.





The first chairman, Hamlin, presided over a straight-up boom. As it ended, Harding took over and presided over an inflationary period that accompanied a bear market, exiting just as a new uptrend was developing. Crissinger took over at the onset of the Roaring Twenties, and Young presided over the boom, the peak and the rebound into 1930. Meyer took over just as confidence was collapsing and left the office in early 1933 at the exact bottom of the Great Depression. The next three chairmen struggled through the choppy years of the 1940s. Then Martin presided over virtually the entire advance from the early 1950s through 1969, exiting just before the recession of 1970. Burns and Miller presided over a bear market and exited as the new uptrend was developing. Volcker, after weathering an inflation crisis, presided over the explosive '80s. Greenspan has presided over the manic '90s and the topping process. [Ben Bernanke] will have his own era. Given the eras that have immediately preceded the coming change in leadership, the odds are that this new environment will be a bear market.

(June 2006) Economists are convinced that the Fed can "fight" inflation or deflation by manipulating interest rates. But for the most part, all the Fed does is to follow price trends. When the markets fall and the economy weakens, the price of money falls with them, so interest rates go down. When the markets rise and the economy strengthens, the price of money rises with them, so interest rates go up. The Fed's rates fell along with markets and the economy from 2001 to 2003. They have risen along with markets and the economy since then. Regardless of the Fed's promise to keep raising rates, you can bet that the price of money will fall right along with the markets and the economy. Pundits will say that the Fed is "fighting" deflation, but it will simply be lowering its prices in line with the others.

It is highly likely that the next eight years or so will test the nearly universally accepted theory—among bulls and bears alike—that the Fed can control anything at all. The Great Depression made it look like a gang of fools, as will the coming deflationary collapse. We have predicted unequivocally that the new Fed chairman will go down as Hoover did: the butt of all the blame, and if you are reading the newspapers you can see that it's already started. "When Bernanke Speaks, the Markets Freak" (San Jose Mercury News, June 10, 2006); "Bernanke is being blamed for spooking Wall Street" (USA Today, June 7, 2006); "Bernanke to blame for volatility" (Globe and Mail, Canada, Jun 13, 2006). The new chairman had a brief honeymoon (which we also predicted), but it's already over.

By the way, I heard his commencement speech at MIT last week, and in it he spoke eloquently of the value of technology and free markets. But he also opined that economists have successfully applied technology to macroeconomics. We believe that the collective unconscious herding impulse cannot be tamed, directed or managed. In our socionomic view, the Fed cannot control the mood behind the markets, but rather, the mood behind the markets controls how people judge the Fed. We'll ultimately find out who's right.

Can the Fed Stop Deflation? Robert Prechter answers this all-important question in his Free Deflation Survival Guide. The guide gives you a 60-page ebook that will help you understand deflation and its effects on society; you'll even learn how to survive and prosper in such an environment. Download Your Free 60-Page Deflation eBook Here.

(December 2009) Bernanke's greatest achievement was not the measly $1.25t. of debt that he arranged to have the Fed monetize; it was convincing the government to shift the burden of debt default from the speculators and creditors to taxpayers.

(September 2009) Thanks to the Fed Chairman and two Treasury Secretaries, profligate bankers have been cashing checks off the Fed's and the Treasury's accounts, and the poor savers and taxpayers who fund these institutions are unaware that their personal bank accounts are being tapped by counterfeiters and thieves.

That lack of awareness may soon change. Declining social mood is fueling the drive to expose the Fed's secrets. [Ed. note: Bloomberg News has sued the Fed under the Freedom of Information Act; Congressmen Ron Paul, R-Texas, and Barney Frank, D-Mass., are leading a charge to audit the Fed.] Exposing the Fed's secret deals could lead to scandal and the collapse of major money-center banks. But most important to our monetary outlook, it will serve to curb the Fed's reflation efforts. As I have written many times, deflation will win. Social mood is impulsive and cannot be stopped. The downtrend will claim its victims by whatever measures it must take to do so.

(August 2009) On July 26, in a speech in Kansas City, MO, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke declared, "I was not going to be the Federal Reserve chairman who presided over the second Great Depression." (WSJ, 7/27) We think this implication of a fait accompli is premature. Clearly, the Fed Chairman and the majority of economists are of the opinion that the worst of the financial crisis is past and that the Fed's unprecedented lending has averted deflation and depression. But wave 3 down in the stock market will dispel these illusions. Years ago, we suggested that Chairman Greenspan quit if he wanted to keep his lofty reputation. He didn't do it. Now Chairman Bernanke should consider this option.

So will Bernanke serve a second term as Fed chairman? The January 2010 Elliott Wave Financial Forecast says, "Social mood is still too elevated to deny Bernanke reappointment as head of the Fed. ... But rising political tension confirms that his next term will be far more stressful than his first."

Can the Fed Stop Deflation? Robert Prechter answers this all-important question in his Free Deflation Survival Guide. The guide gives you a 60-page ebook that will help you understand deflation and its effects on society; you'll even learn how to survive and prosper in such an environment. Download Your Free 60-Page Deflation eBook Here.

Robert Prechter, Chartered Market Technician, is the founder and CEO of Elliott Wave International, author of Wall Street best-sellers Conquer the Crash and Elliott Wave Principle and editor of The Elliott Wave Theorist monthly market letter since 1979.

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