Editing Ralph Nelson Elliott

{{short description|American accountant and finance author}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Ralph Nelson Elliott
| image              = 
| caption            = 
| birth_name         = 
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1871|07|28|mf=y}}
| birth_place = [[Marysville, Kansas]], U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1948|1|15|1871|7|28|mf=y}}
| death_place = 
| yearsactive        = 
| occupation         = [[Accountant]]
| known_for          = [[Elliott wave principle|Wave Principle]]
| spouse             = 
}}
'''Ralph Nelson Elliott''' (28 July 1871 – 15 January 1948) was an [[United States of America|American]] [[accountant]] and author whose study of stock market data led him to develop the [[Elliott wave principle|Wave Principle]], a description of the cyclical nature of trader psychology and a form of [[technical analysis]]. It identifies [[market trends|trends]] and reversals in financial markets. These cyclical patterns in price movements are known among practitioners of the method as ''Elliott waves''.<ref name=Frost>{{Cite book | last1 = Frost | first1 = A.J.| first2 = ((Robert R., Jr.)) | last2 = Prechter | title = Elliott Wave Principle | location = Gainesville, GA | publisher = New Classics Library | year= 2005 | edition = 10th | page = 9 | isbn = 9780932750754}}</ref>

==Personal life and career==
Elliott was born in [[Marysville, Kansas]], and later moved to [[San Antonio, Texas]]. He entered the accounting field in the mid-1890s and worked primarily in executive positions for railroad companies in Central America and Mexico. In 1903, Elliott married Mary Elizabeth Fitzpatrick (1869–1941), who accompanied him during his extended time working as an expatriate in Mexico. Civil unrest there brought the couple back to the United States and eventually to a residence in New York City, where Elliott started a successful consulting business.  In 1924, the United States Department of State appointed Elliott to the post of Chief Accountant for Nicaragua, which was under American control at the time.  Not long afterward, Elliott wrote two books based on his professional experiences: ''Tea Room and Cafeteria Management''<ref>
[http://hdl.handle.net/2027/coo.31924003587700 Tea room and cafeteria management]</ref>
and ''The Future of Latin America''.<ref name=Masterworks>{{Cite book | last = Elliott| first = Ralph Nelson | editor-last = Prechter | editor-first = ((Robert R., Jr.)) | title = R.N. Elliott's Masterworks | location = Gainesville, GA | publisher = New Classics Library | year= 1994 | pages = 17, 21, 26, 34, 41, 50, 51, 58, 62, 68 | isbn = 9780932750761}}</ref>

==Elliott Wave Principle==
In the early 1930s, Elliott began a systematic study of seventy-five years of stock market data, including index charts with increments ranging from yearly to half-hourly prices.  In August 1938, he detailed his results by publishing his third book in collaboration with Charles J. Collins, entitled ''The Wave Principle.''  Elliott stated that, while stock market prices may appear random and unpredictable, they actually follow predictable, natural laws, and can be measured and forecast using [[Fibonacci number]]s. Soon after the publication of ''The Wave Principle'', ''Financial World'' magazine commissioned Elliott to write twelve articles under the book title, describing his method of market forecasting.<ref name=Masterworks/>

In the early 1940s, Elliott expanded the theory to apply to all collective human behavior. His final major work was his most comprehensive:  ''Nature's Law –The Secret of the Universe'' published in June, 1946, two years before he died.<ref name=Masterworks/>

In the years after Elliott's death, other practitioners, including Charles Collins, Hamilton Bolton, [[Richard Russell (Dow Theory)|Richard Russell]], and A.J. Frost continued to use the wave principle and provide forecasts to investors. Glenn Neely published ''Elliott Waves in Motion''<ref>{{cite book |last1=Neely |first1=Glenn |title=Elliott Waves in Motion |date=1988 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pu44HQAACAAJ}}</ref> in 1988 and ''Mastering Elliott Wave''<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Neely |first1=Glenn |title=Mastering Elliott wave: version 2.0 |last2=Hall |first2=Eric |last3=Neely |first3=Glenn |date=1990 |publisher=Published by Windsor Books for the Elliot Wave Institute |others=Elliott Wave Institute |isbn=978-0-930233-44-0 |location=Brightwaters, N.Y}}</ref> in 1990 using Elliott Wave theory to present an objective approach to market forecasting called [[Neowave theory]]. Neely's Neowave theory is an expansion of Elliott Wave principles years after Elliott's death, including new patterns discovered with: Neutral triangle, Diametric formation, Symmetrical formation, Extracting triangle, 3rd-Extension terminal with 5th failure, and Reverse alternation.{{cn|date=September 2024}} [[Robert Prechter]] found out about Elliott's work while he was working as a market technician at [[Merrill Lynch]], and used it as a basis for the book ''Elliott Wave Principle'',<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pretcher |first=Robert |title=Elliott Wave Principle: Key to Market Behavior |publisher=New Classics Library |year=2005 |isbn=978-1616040451 |publication-date=February 25, 2005}}</ref> coauthored with Frost in 1978.

==See also==
* [[The Elliott Wave Theorist]]
* [[Behavioral finance]]
* [[Daniel Kahneman]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{Technical analysis}}
{{Authority control}}
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[[Category:1871 births]]
[[Category:1948 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Marysville, Kansas]]
[[Category:American accountants]]
[[Category:Technical analysts]]