At the Crest of the Tidal Wave: A Forecast for the Great Bear Market

Welcome to Dow 10,000. So, what's next? Skies the limit, right? Do you know what it means when everyone you know is in the stock market? Have you ever wondered why only the big name stocks have been soaring like rockets for years, while those of most small and medium size companies have languished? Would it surprise you to know that the 15 year rise in bonds has not been a bull market at all, but a BEAR MARKET RALLY? How far must the price of gold fall before it finally reaches "rock bottom"? And finally, what do you think your home will be worth ten years from now? Read this book and you will have an excellent guide to all these questions. Robert Prechter has seen it all. He entered the financial world in the early 1970's, just in time to witness the last true bear market in U.S. stocks. He forecasted the 1982 breakout of the Dow Jones Industrials four years before it occurred. His prediction was widely considered impossible and out of touch with the realities of late 1970's. And importantly, he then predicted that it would blossom into the full blown mania we are seeing today. As the world's foremost practitioner of the Elliott Wave Principle, Mr. Prechter has the long range view required to see just where we are in the "big picture". And although we've been patiently waiting since this book was written (1995), all the pieces are slowly, but surely, falling into place. I've read nearly fifty books on financial markets, many of them considered classics, and I can honestly say that this is one of only two books you'll ever need to own on the subject. The other is "Elliott Wave Principle", by Frost & Prechter.

This book is a must read for financial survival. Prechter has an engaging writing style. His opinions are often outrageous and sometimes too extreme. This value of this book is in that it is so different from the conventional financial press.

Almost alone Prechter predicted the great bull market back in 1979. He then called the top prematurely but at least he did warn this readers that a top was coming. The scope of Prechter's vision is awesome. He has charts with trendlines going back to 1700 with projections for the next century.

Chapter 11 "Manifestations of Investor Psychology" is very powerful.

There was a movie which showed an approaching tidal wave. There was no noise because the wave was travelling faster than the speed of sound. This is the case of the oncoming financial tidal wave of disaster. One can hear the bullish rantings of a stream of advisors, nudging us into a sleeping wonderment of good things to come. The tidal wave is on its way. Prechter has pointed out the various items unfolding before our eyes. He was early in many of the prognostications, but they are surely falling into place. If you read the book, you will surely see how they are unfolding. Your financial health is at stake. The tech wreck was only the beginning. Read on, there is still time, but the book will be out of date in a couple of years.

If you go to the list showing all of my reviews, you will see that I have read quite a few books about the stock market and trading in general. While I have encountered information that talked in generalities about the Elliott Wave Principle, I had never delved into it in much detail as I never felt the methodology was consistent. Having trudged my way through this book, I have come to the conclusion that either (1) I am too stupid to be able to understand and trade based on the EWP (an admittedly distinct possibility), or (2) I have never read so much after-the-fact 'curve fitting' in my life. If you are a student and believer in the Elliott Wave Principle, this will be like adding a second Bible to your collection. If, however, you don't already know and understand the EWP, and unless you are a genius, plan on spending years trying to understand the theory before you will be able to implement it into your trading system. Sorry, Mr. Prechter, but I just don't get it.

Prechter wrote a brilliant book about 1980 on Elliot Waves and then proceded to bask in the light of gurudom... That is until 1987, when his theories totally missed the October crash and a lot of his followers got their collective wallets smeared. As if to compensate for the missed crash, for the last decade Prechter has become obsessed with predicting the immanent crash of all civilization. Yes, The Bubble of the current market is going to burst. But Prechter keeps missing his prediction dates, and I believe he's also missing the extent. (At least I hope!) But still an enjoyable book if you don't take it *TOO* seriously.