Common mistakes and the limits of the method

Learning a method is not complete without knowing its pitfalls and its limits. The advanced wave method is a powerful tool, but it is often misused, so let us gather the most prominent mistakes.

Common mistakes

• Counting before reading momentum: whoever begins by counting waves visually before looking at MACD 4C falls into endless interpretations. Momentum first, always.
• Confusing divergence with convergence: naming a structure with no divergence ABC lands you in early entries and repeated stop-outs. Compare the two momentum peaks before naming.
• Forcing the pattern onto price: twisting the move to fit a particular flat is a methodological error. Answer the B and C questions and let the shape emerge.
• The wave C trap: in the expanded flat, C breaks A’s low with a final breakout that hits the stops of those who entered early; the stop at C is placed after C completes, not before.
• Counting a triangle as a flat: a triangle has five waves and a flat three; confusing them muddles your estimate of where the correction ends.
• Rushing the complex correction: assuming WXYXZ has ended at W or Y is among the costliest mistakes; ask which wave has not been closed yet.
• Entering on the abnormal wave: its strength is deceptive — the market will come back to close it.
• Ignoring the larger timeframe: a sound count on a small frame may be merely a sub-wave on a larger one. Start from the monthly.