Ralph Nelson Elliott
“There is a reason for everything, and it is ones duty to try to discover it”

R.N.Elliott was an American accountant, author and described by many as a true scholar in the practical world of finance.  Elliott was born on July 28th, 1871 in Marysville, Kansas and later moved to San Antonio, Texas where he held executive positions primarily with railroad companies in Mexico and Central America.  By rescuing numerous companies from financial ruin, Elliott earned a reputation as an expert business organiser.  In late 1924 the U.S. State Department chose him to become the Chief Accountant for Nicaragua which was operating under the control of the U.S. Marines.  Elliott applied his experience and began to reorganise the finances of an entire country.   

Unfortunately, by 1929 Elliott contracted an intestinal illness which would later prove to be the thief that stole his life. At 58 and forced into retirement, Elliott devoted his time to meticulously study the behaviour of the World Stock Market.  On this exciting journey Elliott found some fascinating shapes in price movements plotted on a chart that appeared time and time again.  These shapes reflect economic states and are merely a collection of human emotions drawn on a chart that progress or regress in groups of what he called waves.  It became apparent to Elliott that these waves, in their simplest form, oscillate between two very distinct states; one of optimism and the other, pessimism.

As he became more proficient in the application of his principles and corrected initial errors in their formulation, their accuracy began to amaze him.  It is worth mentioning that this man had no access to the modern technology of today and that his only method of studying stock charts where by his own creation... He drew them, price by price, tick by tick and in a variety of time intervals.