Just Thinking Out Loud - 2

In the last post (seen at this LINK), the option of an expanding triangle option was explored. And it is a viable option. Still, there are some contraindications of a triangle that should be talked about. The first and foremost of these is that we don't know that upward movement is over. A certain amount of upward movement could still fit within the range of the expanding triangle, but if it goes too far up, then the expanded flat - or even a further upward wave - should be considered. The second consideration is the time of the Ⓒ wave down. It is quite short in time and looks very sharp compared even to the Ⓐ wave down. So, it might just be the initiation wave of the expanded flat, the (a) wave, with the Minor A wave location moved forward to the location shown in the SPY/ES (CFD) 4-hr chart shown below.

If so, then the current up wave can be counted as w,x,y as part or all of the upward (b) wave of the expanded flat. The time scale shows that the y wave is 2x the time of the current w wave, upward, and the EWO/AO shows it is currently on a 4-hr divergence which is not yet confirmed by red bars.

One implication of the expanded flat is that it could travel significantly lower than just the Ⓔ wave of the expanding triangle. The (c) wave of an expanded flat could travel 1.618 x (a) or even 2.618 x (a) without batting an eyelash. Meanwhile. the Ⓔ wave of the expanding triangle is limited to 1.5 x by rule.

But, even more than that, the expanded flat can start a more complicated series of waves - such as a double-three (double Flat), or a Flat-X-Zigzag to waste more time or create more downward movement if it wants.

So, bottom line, we don't know upward movement is over. Price is still over the 18-day SMA. And IFF downward movement should begin earnest, we should keep two things in mind at the same time. Those are the expanding triangle, and the expanded flat, with its potential extensions.

This is all part of The Principle of Equivalence I have developed which requires some disqualifying information to rule out certain wave segments before proposing that one wave count is more certain, or has better odds, than other.

Until we learn more perspective, patience, calm and flexibility are still the order of the day.

Have an excellent rest of the weekend,

TraderJoe