Bulkowski’s Zigzag Wave

ThePatternSite.com logo

Home
About
Bookstore
Contact
Glossary
Links
Search
Site Map

Click on my books below to take you to Amazon.com. At no cost to you, they pay for the referral and that helps support this site.

Makes a great gift

Written by and copyright © 2008 by Thomas N. Bulkowski. All rights reserved.

This page describes the zigzag pattern of the Elliott wave principle, how price moves not in a straight line but in a series of rises and retracements.

 

The zigzag wave in a bull market. The figure to the right shows two zigzag waves. The first on the left, in blue, is a ABC correction of the prior motive wave in a bull market. It shows how wave B ends well below the start of wave A. The right figure shows the 5-3-5 subwaves that make up the zigzag. Think of each subwave as a line segment in the illustration.

The zigzag in a bear market. The chart on the right shows the zigzag pattern in a bear market. This is just an inversion of the prior chart and is sometimes called an inverted zigzag. Wave B falls well short of the start of wave A, just as in the prior chart. The chart shows the 5-3-5 subwaves using numbers 1 through 5.

Rules

The zigzag has rules that govern its shape. They are listed here.

  • The zigzag is an ABC correction of the motive wave.
  • The pattern follows the 5-3-5 subwave configuration.
  • Subwave B falls well short of the start of subwave A.

Copyright © 2008 by Thomas N. Bulkowski. All rights reserved. Bumper sticker: Don’t drink and drive. You might hit a bump and spill your drink.