LEARN ELLIOTT WAVES
How to count waves on a chart.
Start with a hypothesis you can test. The aim is to explain a selected movement consistently, including its smaller parts, rather than to place five numbers wherever they fit.
Keep the input conditions fixed.
Record the instrument, data source, bar interval, last completed bar and analysis range. Compare the actual high and low prices of bars: a closing-price line can conceal an extreme.
Look at a wider range before choosing the local segment. Then keep the same data and boundaries while comparing candidates.
A practical sequence.
Find the larger movement
Identify the surrounding advance, decline or sideways structure. State which movement your proposed count describes.
Mark significant turning points
Begin without labels. Avoid turning every small fluctuation into another wave at the same degree.
Propose one pattern
For an ordinary upward impulse candidate, label the start 0 and its five parts 1–5. Keep the labels at one degree.
Check the price constraints
Check wave 2 against the start, compare lengths 1, 3 and 5, and check wave 4 against wave 1 territory.
Inspect the smaller parts
An impulse needs internal 5–3–5–3–5 subdivisions. Sparse turning points or incomplete history may leave this unconfirmed.
Keep an alternative and a review condition
Note what supports the count and what would invalidate it. Reassess when new completed bars or a changed range alter the evidence.
Work through invented prices.
Use the six points shown below: 0=100, 1=110, 2=104, 3=124, 4=116, 5=130. The price lengths of waves 1, 3 and 5 are 10, 20 and 14. Wave 2 remains above 100; wave 3 is not the shortest; wave 4 stays above 110.
These endpoints pass the three introductory price checks. They do not establish the internal subdivisions or a complete valid impulse. In a real chart, examine the bars between the points before accepting that interpretation.
| Point | Invented price |
|---|---|
| 0 | 100 |
| 1 | 110 |
| 2 | 104 |
| 3 | 124 |
| 4 | 116 |
| 5 | 130 |
Try one change.
Keep every point unchanged except wave 4: replace 116 with 108. Can this still be the same ordinary upward impulse candidate?
Show the explanation
No. A low of 108 enters wave 1 territory, whose upper endpoint is 110. Reject this ordinary impulse count and reconsider the structure. This rejects one interpretation, not every possible upward scenario and not the market itself.
Theory references
Study offline with the original PDF guide
Rules, counting, corrections and Fibonacci, with invented worked examples and an answer key. Available in this page language.
Where to go after a manual review
Keep your notes and compare alternative counts. To compare with software, follow the first-calculation guide. Use the version comparison to choose standalone Pro for Windows or browser-based Light with its required Windows module; importing your own CSV is available only in Pro.