By Elliott Wave International

On November 1, the EUR/USD — the euro-dollar exchange rate and the most actively-traded forex pair — was trading the $1.38 range, near the level it is today.

But if you look at what the EUR/USD did between November 1 and 9, you’ll see a huge 400-point (or pip, in forex lingo) rally into the November 4 top — and an equally huge decline back to the levels we see today.

That’s an 800-pip “round trip” in just six trading days — a huge move which obviously caught a lot of the U.S. dollar bears and bulls by surprise. Could you have seen it coming?

If you know how to analyze currencies with Elliott wave, the answer is probably “yes.” Wave analysis helps you identify patterns in market charts and tells you how those patterns — ideally — should develop. In other words, Elliott allows you to narrow down multiple possibilities to a handful of probabilities.

A probability is never a certainty. But it’s better than a shot in the dark, as this example demonstrates.

On November 1, Elliott Wave International’s Currency Specialty Service posted the following end-of-day forecast. (Some Elliott wave labels removed for this article):

[Higher, into a top] The euro is poised to thrust above 1.4160. The question is if the thrust takes place before the FOMC announcement and ends afterward, or starts in response to the announcement. Before or after, the euro should hit new highs.

What gave Currency Specialty Service the confidence to make that forecast? It was the “contracting triangle” pattern you see in the chart above. They often appear in 4th waves, right before the market’s final push in wave 5. The EUR fulfilled the forecast with a 400-pip rally into the November 4 top. The following day, our Currency Specialty Service wrote:

The euro is reversing course after a thrust from a triangle. The decline from 1.4283 might not be in five waves, but it has the characteristics of an impulsive wave. A correction of the rally from August should reach the 1.3636-1.3700 area, the 38.2% retracement of the advance…

…which brings us to the price levels where we find the EUR/USD today. And if you’re curious to know what Currency Specialty Service has to say now, you have a great opportunity:

FreeWeek is live through noon EST on Thursday, November 18! You can access all the intraday, daily, weekly and monthly forecasts from EWI’s Currency Specialty Service right now through noon Eastern time Thursday, Nov. 18. This service is valued at $494/month, but you can get it free! Click here to access Currency Specialty Service FreeWeek.

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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.

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by Elliott Wave International

While many people spend time yearning for the financial markets to turn back up, a rare few have looked back in time to compare historical markets with the current situation – and then delivered a clear-eyed view of the future informed by knowledge of the past. One who has is Robert Prechter. When he thinks about markets and wave patterns, he goes back to the 1700s, the 1800s, and — most tellingly for our time now — the early 1900s when the Great Depression weighed down the United States in the late 1920s and early 1930s. With this large wash of history in mind, he is able to explain why he thinks we have a long way to go to get to the bottom of this bear market.

Here is an excerpt from the EWI Independent Investor eBook, which answers the question: How close to the bottom are we?
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Originally written by Robert Prechter for The Elliott Wave Theorist, January 2009

Some people contact us and say, “People are more bearish than I have ever seen them. This has to be a bottom.” The first half of this statement may well be true for many market observers. If one has been in the market for less than 14 years, one has never seen people this bearish. But market sentiment over those years was a historical anomaly. The annual dividend payout from stocks reached its lowest level ever: less than half the previous record. The P/E ratio reached its highest level ever: double the previous record. The price-to-book value ratio went into the stratosphere, as did the ratio between corporate bond yields and the same corporations’ stock dividend yields.

During nine and a half of those years, from October 1998 to March 2008, optimism dominated so consistently that bulls outnumbered bears among advisors (per the Investors Intelligence polls) for 481 out of 490 weeks. Investors got so used to this period of euphoria and financial excess that they have taken it as the norm.

With that period as a benchmark, the moderate slippage in optimism since 2007 does appear as a severe change. But observe a subtle irony: When commentators agree that investors are too bearish, they say so to justify being bullish. Thus, as part of the crowd, they are still seeking rationalizations for their continued optimism, and one of their best excuses is that everyone else is bearish. This would be reasoning, not rationalization, if it were true.

But is the net reduction in optimism since 2000/2007 in fact enough to indicate a market bottom? For the rest of this issue, we will update the key indicators from Conquer the Crash that so powerfully signaled a historic top in the making. When we are finished, you will know whether or not the market is at bottom.

Figure 1 updates our picture of Supercycle and Grand Supercycle-degree periods of prosperity and depression. The top formed in the past decade is the biggest since 1720, yet, as you can see, the decline so far is small compared to the three that preceded it. There is a lot more room to go on the downside.

Figure 2 updates the Dow’s dividend yield. Over the past nine years, it has improved nicely, from 1.3 percent to 3.7 percent, near its level at previous market tops. If companies’ dividends were to stay the same, a 50 percent drop in stock prices from here would bring the Dow’s yield back into the area where it was at the stock market bottoms of 1942, 1949, 1974 and 1982. But of course, dividends will not stay the same.

Companies are cutting dividends and will cut more as the depression deepens. So, the falling stock market is chasing an elusive quarry in the form of an attractive dividend yield. This is a downward spiral that will not end until prices get ahead of dividend cuts and the Dow’s dividend yield goes above that of 1932, which was 17 percent (or until dividends fall so close to zero that the yield is meaningless).

Get the whole story about how much farther we have to go to a bear-market bottom by reading the rest of this article from EWI’s Independent Investor eBook. The fastest way to read it AND the six new chapters in EWI’s Independent Investor eBook is to become a member of Club EWI.

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By Elliott Wave International

Fear and uncertainty that drive a severe bear market are the same emotions which can set the stage for authoritarianism, in most any nation.

“Bear markets of sufficient size appear to bring about a desire to slaughter groups of successful people. In 1793-1794, radical Frenchmen guillotined countless members of high society. In the 1930s, Stalin slaughtered Ukrainians. In the 1940s, Nazis slaughtered Jews. In the 1970s, Communists in Cambodia and China slaughtered the affluent. In 1998, after their country’s financial collapse, Indonesians went on a rampage and slaughtered Chinese merchants.” – Bob Prechter, Wave Principle of Human Social Behavior, p. 270

Why do authoritarian tendencies emerge only during bear markets in stocks?

“As society becomes more fearful, many individuals yearn for the safety and order promised by strong, controlling leaders.” - The Socionomist, May 2010

Learn How to Anticipate and Prepare for Political Conflict and War, Bull Markets and Bear Markets. The 118-page Independent Investor eBook covers a vast array of investment topics and exposes myths that mainstream investors accept as fact. Once you learn the real cause of conflict and war, you might be surprised how the stock market plays a key role in forecasting major social events. Click here to download the 118-page Independent Investor eBook for FREE

Bob Prechter’s new science of socionomics explains that stock market fluctuations mirror trends in people’s collective mood. In simple terms, when the market is buoyant, it indicates positive social mood; the opposite when a bear market takes over.

The fascinating part is that because the stock market and social mood trend closely together, a forecaster can apply Elliott wave analysis to both — and predict both.

Generally, widespread brutalities and wars do not follow the first phase of a bear market. Extreme violence, when it does occur, often follows the worst part of the market’s downturn — like the end of the Great Depression, a negative social mood period that ultimately ushered in World War II.

But even during the first phase, a negative social mood grows. So, if a forecaster determines correctly where in the wave structure social mood resides, he can make educated forecasts about what will follow in society — given what has happened before under similar social mood trends.

Authoritarianism is a subject of heated discussions these days, which makes it a timely topic for a socionomic study. The latest, two-part issue of the monthly Socionomist gives you just that: A look at historic trends and specific forecasts for the years ahead.

Learn How to Anticipate and Prepare for Political Conflict and War, Bull Markets and Bear Markets. The 118-page Independent Investor eBook covers a vast array of investment topics and exposes myths that mainstream investors accept as fact. Once you learn the real cause of conflict and war, you might be surprised how the stock market plays a key role in forecasting major social events. Click here to download the 118-page Independent Investor eBook for FREE

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The Senate version of financial regulation is bad for business on Wall Street and, according to the Wall Street Journal, could cut the profits of major financial institutions by roughly 20%. Find out why Robert Prechter thinks it’s also bad for the economy in the third excerpt from Robert Prechter’s May 20 interview with Yahoo! Finance Tech Ticker host Aaron Task.

Get Robert Prechter’s FREE 60-Page Deflation Survival Guide
With you in mind, financial analyst Robert Prechter scoured thousands of pages of his warnings and teachings about deflation. He then handpicked his most important deflation writings and compiled them into a special, unedited, 60-page Deflation Survival Guide. If you havent yet given Prechter’s deflation argument your full attention, you should know now that yesterday was the best time to do so. Download Your 60-page Deflation Survival Guide Now FREE.

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The euro’s recent loss has been the dollar’s gain, which means that it’s not the best time to buy the U.S. dollar. Meanwhile, the most popular alternative to currencies, gold, isn’t such a good buy either. Watch the second excerpt from Robert Prechter’s May 20 interview with Yahoo! Finance Tech Ticker host Aaron Task to hear what Prechter thinks is in store for the U.S. currency and gold.

For
more information from Robert Prechter, download
a FREE 10-page issue of the Elliott Wave Theorist. It challenges current recovery hype with hard facts, independent analysis, and insightful charts. You’ll find out why the worst is NOT over and what you can do to safeguard your financial future. Hurry! This free offer expires June 7.

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By Elliott Wave International

The famous “10% correction” that market pundits talk about sounds so nice and tidy, so predictable and tolerable. It’s as if this “cute little correction” came neatly wrapped, looked like an M&M candy character, and smiled at you and your family after you open the box.

If only it were so.

“If all the market ever did on the downside was dip 10% once every two years, then investing would be easier than shooting fish in a barrel. Obviously, this is not the case. The fact is that the stock market’s movements are a fractal. Declines come in widely varying sizes.” - The Elliott Wave Theorist, December 2001

There is no way to know in advance whether a particular market downturn will fall 11%, 35% or 89%. Even the Wave Principle only forecasts probabilities — not certainties.

Read Part One of Robert Prechter’s Latest Two-Part, April-May Theorists FREE
The April-May Theorist series entitled “Deadly Bearish Big Picture” reveals a lucid picture for 2010-2016. It’s the flipside of Robert Prechter’s February
2009 Forecast for a ‘Sharp and Scary’ Rally. Click here to download the 10-page part one for FREE now.

One thing that is certain — every bear market reached a 10% drop before prices fell even further.

And another near-certainty is that too many money managers will use the phrase “buying weakness” when the market falls 10%. On May 7, after the Dow Jones had fallen several hundred points in a few days, two money managers being interviewed side by side said in effect, “Buy.” Not a word was said about caution. Not a word was offered about even thepossibility of a major trend change in the market.

On the other hand, it was refreshing to hear a representative of a fund family say, “I don’t know why anyone needs to be a hero, and try to catch the bottom.”

You may be tempted to jump back in because the market has recently “corrected.” Yet consider what EWI’s Short Term Update subscribers read on May 7 — “. . .we would caution that some of history’s largest stock declines have occurred onlyafter stocks were deeply oversold.”

Two key features of the Elliott Wave Principle is its ability to establish a price target for the current trend, and a time range.

In his latest Elliott Wave Theorist (a two-part April-May issue), Robert Prechter tells why market participants should look far beyond a mere 10%-15% move in the now-unfolding trend.

Read Part One of Robert Prechter’s Latest Two-Part, April-May Theorists FREE
The April-May Theorist series entitled “Deadly Bearish Big Picture” reveals a lucid picture for 2010-2016. It’s the flipside of Robert Prechter’s February
2009 Forecast for a ‘Sharp and Scary’ Rally. Click here to download the 10-page part one for FREE now.

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