DAX (Frankfurt) and NYA (New York), why counting is so difficult.

EW has some aspects that make people wonder in bewilderment how anybody could possible attach any predictive value to it at all. There are tops and “orthodox” tops and failed tops. There are extensions that out of seemingly nowhere add 4 waves to a sequence. There are “irregular” patterns where lower lows or higher highs do not count and the list goes on. For those interested here is an example;

DAX oct 5 2011 NYA oct 5 2011

On the left the DAX and on the right the NYSE index. Both have 3 tops at slightly different levels and the middle one is the highest but not necessarily THE top. Getting there certainly does not look like 5 waves and the first wave down on both is anything but a clear 5 waves. The Aug 9 action of 4 days of 400 points up and down obscures the picture, There is no clear wave 4 on DAX whereas there is a pretty clear one on the NYA. Wave 5 on both charts has the clear earmarks of a contracting diagonal, or in English, a wedge. However the position is different. On the DAX the wedge hugs the lower trend line, whereas on the NYA the wedge is further to the right so one could be wave 5 of 3 and the other wave 5 of the entire wave one, different degrees! The DAX made its low almost a month ago and the NYA just a few days ago, yet we are supposed to believe that the world problems are now coming from Europe.

Looking superficially at both charts one might be inclined to say that they are essentially the same, and they are but the implications are quite different for the next move!

DAX update

Mrs Merkel spoke today in Berlin, did not say that much but upped the mood with solidarity etc. etc. The Greek prime minister weighed in with a personal guarantee that the Greeks will do what they have to . For the moment everybody is happy. Here is the DAX;

dax seot 27 2011 

This could all just be wave 4, or 2 depending on what degree we are looking at, but the action lately has been clear, it is a wedge (diagonal)  It should retrace to its base just under 6200. Then perhaps 50 to 62% of wave 3 from the start of July.

The DAX and EWG, update

DAX sept 23 2011 ewg sept 23 2011

Recognizing the patterns is often as much a matter of art as science. Of course all counts must adhere strictly to the pragmatic rules but beyond that it is sometimes simple a matter of finding that count that is the most “elegant” and therefore , more often than not, the most correct one. Other inputs are also important. It is a Friday and the DAX is down again by 3%, markets lately seem to turn on Fridays or Mondays perhaps because of the political nature of our present macro-economic problem. This gives them 2 extra days to dream up the next band-aid. Moreover the RSI and MACD are decidedly positive. In short my gut tells me that this thing COULD reverse any moment. As pointed out earlier we could also just continue the waterfall. At this time I think we might have gone too far too fast. The pattern that fits most elegantly is the “expanding diagonal triangle”. On the long run there is no doubt that we need to go lower but there might,after all , be a trade here.

The diagonal is only visible in the DAX, not the EWG (or the STOX50, not shown), but there are ways to make it work. Perhaps we are only at the end of wave 3 on the DAX. It is also possible that we are, and perhaps have been, in wave 4 and are simple testing the lows one more time. In any case it has lost over 62% of the rally (at about 5100) so a nice rebound is definitely not out of the question. We would be buyers at 4800 or 16, with a very tight stop. The potential is for 1000 points or 5, the stop should be commensurate. Be aware that the EWG is rather artificial, and does not trade during the same hours that Germany does. It is therefore possible that the target would have been reached Monday morning and yet you do not get filled!

5 on 16 or 1000 on 4800 is  31% and  21% respectively. Significant enough to give it a try. Good luck.

DAX update

Dax sept 20 2011

The DAX and so many other indexes have been more or less suspended for the past week or two while we await the outcome of the Greek implosion and the American deficit reduction and jobs bill progress. These things always take longer if you are waiting for the outcome. With this in mind an earlier thought with respect to the DAX keeps resurfacing.

The drop of roughly 2600 points from the may high to the Sept low is not over , but we may just get a slightly bigger rebound. The 5th wave of 3 appears to have been a wedge, which normally retraces entirely. This could mean that the present wave 4 could go another leg higher. A 40% retracement of wave 3 would require about 1000 points and this would equate nicely with the start of the wedge , the upper channel line and the 50-day moving average.

After that, as discussed, wave 5 could be precipitous or just wave 5 of 1.