As of 03/28/2024
  Indus: 39,807 +47.29 +0.1%  
  Trans: 16,212 +183.07 +1.1%  
  Utils: 882 +7.51 +0.9%  
  Nasdaq: 16,379 -20.06 -0.1%  
  S&P 500: 5,254 +5.86 +0.1%  
YTD
 +5.6%  
 +2.0%  
 +0.1%  
 +9.1%  
 +10.2%  
  Targets    Overview: 03/13/2024  
  Up arrow40,000 or 38,500 by 04/01/2024
  Up arrow16,300 or 15,350 by 04/01/2024
  Up arrow885 or 830 by 04/01/2024
  Up arrow16,600 or 15,200 by 04/01/2024
  Up arrow5,350 or 5,100 by 04/01/2024
As of 03/28/2024
  Indus: 39,807 +47.29 +0.1%  
  Trans: 16,212 +183.07 +1.1%  
  Utils: 882 +7.51 +0.9%  
  Nasdaq: 16,379 -20.06 -0.1%  
  S&P 500: 5,254 +5.86 +0.1%  
YTD
 +5.6%  
 +2.0%  
 +0.1%  
 +9.1%  
 +10.2%  
  Targets    Overview: 03/13/2024  
  Up arrow40,000 or 38,500 by 04/01/2024
  Up arrow16,300 or 15,350 by 04/01/2024
  Up arrow885 or 830 by 04/01/2024
  Up arrow16,600 or 15,200 by 04/01/2024
  Up arrow5,350 or 5,100 by 04/01/2024

Bulkowski on the Flat Elliott Wave Pattern

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

 

The flat wave correction. Flats come in three types, regular, expanded, and running. This page concerns itself with the regular, 3-3-5 flat wave. The chart to the right shows a flat, a variety of the ABC corrective wave that follows a motive wave in a bull market.

Wave B stops near the start of wave A, and wave C stops near the end of wave A, buy many times terminating just beyond the end of wave A. Stopping close to the end of wave A distinguishes it from the zigzag wave.

 

The flat wave correction with subwaves. The chart to the right has the same general shape as the preceding chart but with more detail. It shows the subwaves within the flat correction. The red numbers 1-5 describe the line segments or subwaves within the ABC correction. Wave A is composed of three subwaves as is wave B, but wave C has five subwaves. That's where the flat 3-3-5 term comes from. A flat is a term used for any ABC correction that has 3-3-5 subwaves.

 

The flat wave correction with subwaves in a bear market. This chart shows the same flat 3-3-5 corrective wave but in a bear market. Waves A and B are threes and wave C is a five. Wave B ends near where wave A starts and wave C ends near or slightly beyond where wave A ends.

A flat tends to occur when the overall trend is strong, so it almost always precedes or follows an extension. The more powerful the overall trend, the quicker the flat tends to occur. A flat 3-3-5 wave corrects less of the prior motive wave than does a zigzag pattern. Within a motive wave, the fourth wave tends to house a flat but wave two rarely does.

 

Flat Elliott Wave: Rules

The three wave corrective phase has rules that govern its shape. They are listed here.

-- Thomas Bulkowski

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See Also

 

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