Elliott used his five-wave trend to reach the same conclusions. He noted that the primary trend was composed of three waves moving in the major direction and two waves moving against it. Furthermore, each primary wave hid a smaller wave structure that exposed the true nature of price direction. For example, Elliott commented that failures exhibited a rollover of certain waves within this fractal structure and gave rise to trend reversals.

In Dow's world, a market printing higher highs and higher lows revealed a primary bull trend. Conversely, a market printing lower highs and lower lows revealed a primary bear trend. Elliott had no problem with this view, but he added a few twists of his own. For example, he pointed out how certain phases of a primary trend showed very limited counter-waves and rarely pulled back until the entire wave set was completed.

 

Three-wave principles get more interesting when Dow and Elliott describe characteristic crowd behavior in each of the waves. Let's examine these through a bull market cycle.

The first wave triggers value buying by patient investors who anticipate better economic conditions and long-term growth. This occurs during the same period that sentiment records its lowest readings and experts tell everyone in sight to stay away from the financial markets. Value investors wake up from this gloom and realize that the fear-filled talk hides a nascent recovery. They buy aggressively from distressed sellers and nurture a sustainable bottom.

Elliott noted that this first wave shows very gradual price improvement and turns back on itself frequently to test lower levels. He also points out that this wave takes a long time to complete and gives a true bottoming appearance to the chart. The good news is that the market eventually triggers enough momentum to carry price up to much higher levels.

 

Bullish evidence begins to mount in Dow's second wave. Improved corporate earnings, increased employment and unexpected innovation characterize this midpoint of a broad bull move. Less demanding investors now enter the market because they see better times ahead and want to participate. They build good-sized portfolios and start to follow the markets with great interest.

Elliott sees this wave as the most dependable phase of the entire bull cycle. Price movement advances rapidly, with less overlap from day to day. Small gaps appear between bars as investors buy high and look to sell higher. A sharp advance often triggers right in the middle of the wave, when a burst of enthusiasm forces a wide continuation gap. This powerful move often marks the exact middle for the entire three-wave event.