A Matter of Degree

In yesterday's post, it was shown how it possible that Primary wave four is becoming longer in time. One of the best pieces of supporting evidence for this count is wave degree. Typically, Elliott termed minor degree waves as those that showed up on the 'daily' chart, whereas intermediate degree waves were those that comprised the weekly chart, and Primary degree waves those that comprised the monthly chart. Please refer to the daily chart below for this discussion.

In our prior posts, we had counted down the daily waves to the August 2015 lows as Minor degree waves A, B, C or alternatively minor 1,2,3 (but 5 was not made in the SP500). We said 1,2,3 and A,B,C are equivalent until they are not.

One key point - and please don't miss it - is that the three minor waves lower form an Intermediate degree wave of some label. We had presumed it 'might' be intermediate (A) of a larger primary fourth wave triangle - and  that is still a possibility. Regardless of the specific label at the August low (A) or (W), we then have labeled three more minor waves higher to the November high. So, this structure now makes an Intermediate degree (X) wave - or less likely an Intermediate degree (B) wave. This type of degree labeling is proceeding simply, and smoothly and naturally. There is no 'guess work' or forcing of degrees to some preconceived notion or tortuous attempt to fit "degrees to points", and you can see that the A-B-C down to (W) and the A-B-C up to (X) consume 'roughly' the same amount of time.

But the next point to absorb is that under Elliott's structures, a Primary degree wave is composed of Intermediate degree waves. It would be a mistake to jump from minor degree labeling directly to Primary degree labeling, without explaining where the Intermediate degree went!

In the count above, the Intermediate degree is clearly shown. That is the major point - we are not leaving the Intermediate degree waves out of Elliott's Primary degree labeling.

Having said that, a wave (Y) - while the most likely course to make a 38.2% retracement of Primary 3, is not a 'for certain' wave. It is highly likely, but even it is 'not' for sure. Why not? Well price is currently down to the lower daily Bollinger Band. Sometimes, price bounces off of the lower band strongly. If and only if price makes a new high above (X), then it is 'possible' a barrier triangle is still in play for Primary 4. But that is nowhere near in evidence yet, and every attempt to reach the old highs has been rebuffed with a turn lower. More likely, a retreat from the lower Bollinger Band will only be towards the middle Bollinger Band (aka the 20-day SMA), before resuming lower.

But we think, besides the downward overlap, and the channel break illustrated, there are two more 'telling' pieces of evidence as to why we are still in a Primary 4th wave.

First, if you notice the structure from late August to late September, it forms a FLAT wave in the SP500. And second waves are 'usually' sharp zigzags, not flats. They 'can' be flats, but they are "usually' sharps. So, having a flat wave at this location is a serious warning. It fits the concept of a B wave much better than it does the concept of a second wave.

Second, we know by measurement that the C wave upward stopped just short of a C = 1.618 x A. In other words, it did not make the usual expectation for a strong and powerful third wave of 3 = 1.618 x 1.

Regardless of the eventual path, if we are making a Primary 4th wave, it must be composed of Intermediate degree wave labels that consume proportional amounts of time in the sideways or down direction to what the Intermediate degree labels have consumed in upward direction.

Cheers and enjoy the chart!