Why you should care that Robert Prechter is warning of a ‘sharp collapse’ in stocks

[marmar]

(MarketWatch) Who is Robert Prechter, and why should investors care that he is warning them to be on high alert for a potential collapse in the stock market?

The president of Elliott Wave International, Prechter may not be a household name on Main Street, but he’s widely known on Wall Street as the foremost authority on the Elliott Wave principle, a forecasting methodology used by generations of technical analysts that is based on the belief that financial markets trend in five waves, and retrace in three waves.

Prechter is also the executive director of the Socionomics Institute, founded to study how those same wave patterns define changes in social mood and govern social events.

Elliott Wave analysis, which was devised by Ralph Nelson Elliott in the 1930s, is much more than a bunch of numbers and letters placed on a chart to denote which wave, or degree of waves, the market is traversing. Those who fully embrace it say it is the only form of technical analysis that can incorporate and explain all the other techniques used by chart watchers. ................(more)

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-you-should-care-that-robert-prechter-is-warning-of-a-sharp-collapse-in-stocks-2015-06-08

[still_one]

1. He has done this before, and his record is the flip of a coin

[1StrongBlackMan]

3. Has his market research newsletter been recommending that its subscribers short the market? ...

If so, I suggest that is all one needs to know about his "predictions."

[pscot]

6. This is what he does

Spreads his net and encourages the fishes to swim in.

[BillZBubb]

2. Prechter's track record is not that impressive.

That doesn't mean he won't be right this time, but I wouldn't bet on it.

[Sherman A1]

4. Thanks for posting

I will read a bit later.

[Warpy]

5. It doesn't take a mathematical model

to notice the market has been essentially flat for a few months now, the Dow going 500 points above or below 18000, the S&P outperforming it slightly but not by much. The go-go rally has finally run out of steam. That means the fast buck guys will get out and that means the market will dive.

However, there is also good news. We're not getting hot stock tips from cabbies and coworkers, so the crash won't be a 1929 or even a 2000 NASDAQ crash.

Well, unless the derivatives casino collapses. That will take everything with it.