in trying to explain the pictures above i could give you...

in trying to explain the pictures above i could give you this:

the first one shows a broader view of what's been going on since the company's stock began making higher highs

there are two defined impulsive moves up marked as a blue colored 1 and a purple colored 1 (at the relative peaks)

in ew-terms, they are the impulsive moves that will then be corrected along the lines of advance met with decay

in the sense that nature takes one step forward and two steps backwards, you might like to think of it that way

as a group of humans acting together, we tend to mirror nature in its method of advance and decline simply because we are nature!

so you have blue wave 2 correcting the blue wave 1 advance, and a purple wave 2 correcting the purple wave 1 advance

having spent a lot of time using ew, i have devised my own way of delineating which advance is separate from the next

i find that is best done with colors simply because colors are vibrant and easy to see

traditional notations of ew analysis are perhaps too obscure, arcane, esoteric; take your pick, but in the end out-of-reach and off-putting to those who aren't familiar with the discipline or craft of ew analysis

anyway, the idea is the base of wave 1 will never be taken out by the end of the wave 2

if it has been, your analysis was wrong

funnily enough, a lot of people have trouble with that

it's as if all analysis must be right

i am never always right

hence trading with some sort of rule based risk metric must also be employed as no analysis is ever 100% right

moving on:

the next phase is shown as smaller interal waves

i have used grey roman numerals to define the advance

inside the larger grey wave 1 we have five sub-waves, denoted by the markings i, ii, iii, iv and v

i'm sorry if this offends anyone reading this, but the market is a fractal meaning it replicates in appearance via wave form at the small degree and larger degree, a-la "small stuff lookee-lookee same as big stuff"

there are common appearances to each sub wave

for example wave iv (or wave 4 in larger degree knowing that markets are a fractal) is commonly seen in the shape of a triangle

triangles are ending moves 'at that degree of trend' meaning the advance in five waves will end very soon

given what is know about ew analysis whereby any impulsive advance or impulsive decline is seen in five distinctive waves (bullish or bearish, up or down), the presence of a triangle in the wave iv position just gets you thinking like this:

"yo dawg we're about to retrace so take profit or save money, be patient, have fortitude, and get ready to reload lower"

by lower, you'd be looking for a corrective movement in defined fashion to around the fourth wave of lesser degree (wave iv) or the 50% area, or the .618 fibb (commonly around the wave ii area) or a double bottom

corrective waves are complex, timely and psychologicaly draining, which is why you should take profit at the top of a wave v advance (or 5 at larger degree)

the tricky bit is getting back in

some don't take profit, prefering to add lower down

to each his or her own

at any rate, if you start with the top chart then the second chart with the andrew's pitchfork overlay you can see the pitchfork support where we are right now

funnily enough, march 2012 is just around the corner

the caveat in all of this is that it's just technical analysis

it is not a guarantee

plenty will mock me for going into this at some depth, but i could care less

here i am sitting up in bed in hongkong after a grand sleep, about to head off for tokyo

four fat pillows surround me on a king sized bed with white sheets and a duvet

happy as a pig in poo, sunday morning buffet breakfast awaiting me downstairs, ABV awaiting me in a few months, healthy and well enough to share the love

hope you get some today...love that is

:)