Enigma,
Yes, Prechter was the Gospel until after the 87 crash. I was one his subscribers then and, while my memory may not be perfect, I will never forget his recommendations. I arrived home from a meeting in Europe the weekend before the crash and failed to get his hot line update in which he said sell everything. I was so tired I didn't have the patience to get through to his hot line number. Friends later pointed out that he was on TV that Sunday giving his sell recommendation to the public. I had been expecting him to say sell and would have sold nearly everything that Monday. But, I responded like a deer in the headlights that Monday. However, I felt good a day or so later (I don't recall how many) when he said buy. I put my last cash into the market. I recall that it went up for a day or so before the big crash. (Most non-subscriber's that took his advice given on TV that Sunday, failed to get his buy signal and thought he was great.) After the market hit bottom, he said sell everything; that the crash was the start of the mother of bear markets. One good call followed by two bad signals in a row does not confidence instill.
I don't doubt that Prechter is very smart and that the Elliott wave theory has a lot of merit. But, Prechter left an impression on me that I will remember much longer than BreX.
Many of my friends who worked on the street blamed Prechter for the crash. I believe there were WSJ articles suggesting this as well. As you indicated, he "was" considered the Gospel.
Cheers,
Larry Smith |
