I try not to over think it too much , its just like guidelines , people treat it like a cult It gave me my biggest trade , so i wont say it straight doesn't work It just needs to be cross verified with other methods of analysis What do professional traders use out of curiosity?
i'm not sure professional traders are any different than retail traders, they all do mostly the dumbest stuff. ew - is a cult no doubt about it, there are cults on this forum of all sorts. in prison terms "gangs"
The best is the meme Elliot Wave International Videos calling for tops in equities 85,000 times a year ... Dangerous mindset to be so dogmatic , but i believe it with the right mods , it can be some what accurate ... i still tweaking it and the version i use is pretty unique
Here is all I need to know.When I worked at an investment bank, we covered Paul Tudor Jones,who is one of the best traders in the world. He is an Elliot Waver.... He is also incredibly disciplined and "risk adverse".He's a great trader first and foremost. Almost every Elliot Waver I have met," eats like a bird and shits like a bear". Tudor was/is the exact opposite..Small losses when wrong,crushes it when right. He also has no problem re-entering trades. What I found interesting is he had ZERO interest in anything remotely similar to short vol or hedging his bets. He was only interested in instruments that would increase his exposure and leverage .
Perhaps you are a gambler at heart, be careful. You will do better if you treat it like a business instead.