Rulebook.
Rules, patterns, degrees & Fibonacci — everything in one place.
Every valid Elliott Wave count must obey a fixed set of hard rules — break one and the count is wrong, no exceptions. This page lists those 15 non-negotiable rules, the patterns they govern, the wave degrees, and the Fibonacci relationships that confirm a count — the same rulebook Fractiq scores every AI analysis against.
An impulse is five waves; a correction is three. Wave 2 never retraces more than 100% of wave 1, wave 3 is never the shortest, and wave 4 never overlaps wave 1 — these three hard rules invalidate most wrong counts on their own.
If ANY Hard Rule is broken, the wave count is 100% invalid. No exceptions.
Limitations & how to use it well
- Wave counting is interpretive — two skilled analysts can label the same chart differently, especially mid-pattern.
- Counts are clearest in hindsight; in real time you usually hold two or three valid alternates until price confirms one.
- Treat a count as a hypothesis with an invalidation level, not a certainty — that's why Fractiq scores it against the rules and cross-checks across models.
Frequently asked questions
What are the three unbreakable Elliott Wave rules?
Wave 2 never retraces more than 100% of wave 1; wave 3 is never the shortest of waves 1, 3 and 5; and wave 4 never enters the price territory of wave 1. Any count that breaks one of these is invalid.
What is the difference between an impulse and a correction?
An impulse is a five-wave move in the direction of the larger trend (labelled 1-2-3-4-5); a correction is a three-wave move against it (labelled A-B-C). Impulses make progress; corrections retrace it.
What are wave degrees?
The same five-up/three-down pattern repeats at every timescale, from minutes to decades. Degrees (e.g. Primary, Intermediate, Minor) name those nested levels so a wave can be placed in its larger and smaller context.