Corrective Patterns · Lesson 1 of 6

The Zigzag.

The zigzag is the most common corrective pattern in Elliott Wave. Five sub-waves down, three sub-waves up, five sub-waves down again. Sharp, decisive, and easily mistaken for the beginning of a new trend. This lesson covers the standard zigzag, its truncated and extended variants, and the typical locations where zigzags appear in the larger wave count.

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Figure I
Five down, three up, five down
Wave Personality
Wave 1
The First Move
Skeptical

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Rule violated: Wave 4 cannot enter Wave 1's territory
Price Time A len C = 1.618xA Standard zigzag: C reaches 1.618 of A A low - not reached Truncated C: short of A Truncated zigzag: C fails to exceed A low. Extremely rare in practice. Extended C: beyond 1.618xA Extended zigzag: C runs beyond 1.618 of A. Often 2.0x or 2.618x. Strong correction. Zigzags typically appear as W2 of an impulse, as the A wave of a larger ABC, or as the first leg of a complex WXY correction (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) (a) (b) (c) (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) A B C
Step 1 of 8

The Pattern Begins

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