High LowSome corrections go for a third or even a fourth leg, so I prefer a different labeling system to account for this and discuss it later in the books. In its simplest form, it counts the legs of a pullback. For example, if there is a down leg in a bull trend or in a trading range and a bar then goes above the high of the prior bar, this breakout is a high 1. If the market then has a second leg down and then a bar goes above the high of a prior bar, the breakout bar is a high 2. A third occurrence is a high 3, and a fourth is a high 4. In a bear leg or in a trading range, if the market reverses back down after one leg, the entry is a low 1. If it reverses back down after two legs up, the entry is a low 2 entry and the bar before it is a low 2 setup or signal.
Since measured moves are an important part of trading and the AB = CD terminology is inconsistent with the more commonly used ABC labeling, the AB = CD terminology should not be used. Also, I prefer to count legs and therefore prefer numbers, so I will refer to each move as a leg, such as leg 1 or the first push, and then leg 2, and so forth. After the chapter on bar counting in the second book, I will also use the high/low 1, 2, 3, 4 labeling because it is useful for traders.
Rezabayat
Tow-Legged, ABCD, Elliott WavesFigure 1.1 has two extreme trends and one extreme trading range. This day began with a strong bear trend down to bar 1, then entered an unusually tight trading range until it broke out to the upside by one tick at bar 2, and then reversed to a downside breakout into an exceptionally strong trend down to bar 3.
Two-legged moves are common, but unfortunately the traditional nomenclature is confusing. When one occurs as a pullback in a trend, it is often called an ABC move. When the two legs are the first two legs of a trend, Elliott Wave technicians instead refer to the legs as waves 1 and 3, with the pullback between them as wave 2. Some traders who are looking for a measured move will look for a reversal back up after the second leg reaches about the same size as the first leg. These technicians often call the pattern an AB = CD move. The first leg down begins with point A and ends with point B (bar 1 in Figure 1.1, which is also A in the ABC move), and the second leg begins with point C (bar 2 in Figure 1.1, which is also B in the ABC move) and ends with point D (bar 3 in Figure 1.1, which is also C in the ABC move).
The Spectrum of Price Action: Extreme Trends to Extreme Trading Whenever anyone looks at a chart, she will see areas where the market is moving diagonally and other areas where the market is moving sideways and not covering many points. The market can exhibit a spectrum of price behavior from an extreme trend where almost every tick is higher or lower than the last to an extreme trading range where every one- or two-tick up move is followed by a one- or two-tick down move and vice versa. Only rarely will the market exist in either of these extreme states, and when it does, it does so only briefly, but the market often trends for a protracted time with only small pullbacks and it often moves up and down in a narrow range for hours. Trends create a sense of certainty and urgency, and trading ranges leave traders feeling confused about where the market will go next. All trends contain smaller trading ranges, and all trading ranges contain smaller trends. Also, most trends are just parts of trading ranges on higher time frame (HTF) charts, and most trading ranges are parts of trends on HTF charts. Even the stock market crashes of 1987 and 2009 were just pullbacks to the monthly bull trend line. The following chapters are largely arranged along the spectrum from the strongest trends to the tightest trading ranges, and then deal with pullbacks, which are transitions from trends to trading ranges, and breakouts, which are transitions from trading ranges to trends.
An important point to remember is that the market constantly exhibits inertia and tends to continue to do what is has just been doing. If it is in a trend, most attempts to reverse it will fail. If it is in a trading range, most attempts to break out into a trend will fail.