It is fair to say that both the motive wave (trend) and correction afterthe trend depends on the second wave. The second wave is the corner stone of an Elliott wave cycle.
That is why professional Elliott wave traders do spend a lot of time scrutinising the structure of the second wave.
One thing is certain is that without a valid (acceptable) second wave, there will be no third wave. Please hold your thoughts for now, and do not get too irritated.
Furthermore, the validation of the first wave depends on a true
second wave that does not violate any Elliott wave rules. One may argue and say:
"hold on a second George, without a true first wave there will be no second wave"
Yes, that is a fair statement.
However, one will not even talk about Elliott wave count or analysis if there is no valid first wave. I mean if one begins to talk about
Elliott wave analysis, the most important wave is the 2nd wave.
As I said before, the best Elliott wave traders are those that have mastered the corrective waves. Are you struggling with your wave analysis? Well, go back and focus on mastering the corrective Elliott waves, and I bet you will not regret it.
The structure of the second wave often helps to predict the correction after the trend. It also helps to have a bit of idea how deep and shallow will the 4th wave be.
Moreover, whether the 4th wave will take a shorter or longer time. When the second wave cancels the first wave, that is it friends and foes, everything goes back to zero. One must restart counting waves. That is the power of the second wave. All change, all change just because the second wave has cancelled the 1st wave.
May be one is thinking that I am exaggerating a bit. That is fine.
Imagine that one has spent a lot time to conduct a thorough Elliott wave count on the monthly chart. One has counted five distinctive waves
without any Elliott wave rules being broken. Those five waves (motive/trend) will form the first wave of a higher degree. All good?
What would happen if the second wave of the higher degree (yearly chart) cancels that higher degree 1st wave? Will that first wave of the higher degree survive if it is followed by a second
higher degree wave that is not genuine? Of course not.
There will not be a third wave of the higher degree either. All I am barking about is that the second wave of any degree can help wave traders to understand more what is happening or likely to occur. I mean that, it is essential to monitor all second waves of every degree
to get the full picture.
Wouldn't that be helpful? I think it is. That is all.
It is also true that if the second wave influences both the 4th wave and correction after the trend, it will surely have an impact on the fifth wave too. In my opinion, those are the reasons why the second wave is
the corner stone of an Elliott wave cycle.