Robert Prechter: photo, biography, books

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Robert Prechter is the developer of the theory of social causation, which is called "socionomics". It explains the nature of trends and developments in finance, macroeconomics, politics, fashion, entertainment, demographics, and other aspects of human social life. Robert Prechter's book on Elliott Wave Theory is popular in many countries.

Career start

Prechter graduated from Yale University with a B. A. in psychology in 1971. During training, he was the drummer of his own rock band. Robert's analytical career began in 1975, when he became a market technician for a major American bank, Merrill Lynch. Robert Farrell, the chief market strategist of the time, became his mentor. At the same time, the aspiring analyst learned about Ralph Elliot's wave principle and became interested in it. Prechter realized that mass psychology affects every aspect of financial and social life.

Fame

In 1979, Prechter decided to start his own business. He quit his job at Merrill Lynch and moved into Elliot Wave Theory, a monthly newsletter. It is still in continuous print. Analyst's predictions for stock indices turned out to be correct. Prechter got a lot of followers. As a publisher, he has published all the known works of Ralph Elliot.

His fame grew. The number of subscribers has reached 20,000. Prechter is still frequently quoted on financial websites, blogs, newsgroups, books, academic papers and the media.

Prechter's weekly includes analysis of financial markets and cultural trends, as well as commentary on topics including technical analysis, behavioral finance, physics, pattern recognition and socionomics.

Socionomics

The socionomic hypothesis of Robert Prechter is that social mood, which is endogenously regulated, is the main driver of social action. Developed since the 1970s, the idea first reached a national audience in a 1985 article in Barrons magazine. Prechter has given presentations on socionomic theory at the London School of Economics, MIT, Georgia, Suna, Cambridge University, Trinity College Dublin, Oxford University and various scientific conferences.

Basic Books

Robert Prechter is the author of more than 14 works. Most Significant BooksAnalytics:

• "The Wave Principle of Human Social Behavior" (1999).
• "New Science - Socionomics" (1999).
• "Pioneer Conditions in Socionomics" (2003).
• "Socionomic Theory of Finance" (2015).

Financial theory

Robert Prechter developed a new theory of financial causation. It implies a fundamental separation between the areas of finance and economics. Robert Prechter's books indicate that the pricing of utility goods and services in the economic realm is largely objective. It is motivated by conscious utility maximization because producers and consumers are aware of their own needs and desires. In this context, the balance of supply and demand between heterogeneous groups of producers and consumers leads to a search for equilibrium in prices.

Robert Prechter's Wave Principle

The law proposed by the author is that the mood of investors and their buying and selling decisions are governed by waves of optimism and pessimism. Prices for goods and services are important. They regulate supply and demand. Investment prices are not that important. They are just a temporary by-product of the impulses generated by the buying and selling mood. It is this theory that underlies Robert Prechter's book The Elliott Wave Principle.

The originator of this principle is R. N. Elliot, an accountant and stock market enthusiast who died in 1948. theory was lostfor the public and markets, but was revealed and reintroduced into the financial community by Robert Prechter.

Its essence lies in the fact that the behavior of the crowd changes in recognizable patterns. Stock prices follow social sentiment. Investors buy stocks when they feel good and sell when they feel down. Leading waves have five stages, reducing - three. The Certified Elliot Wave Analyst program is an academic discipline that equips the candidate with the tools to analyze the market through the lens of human behavior.

Main publications

You can learn more about the wave principle in the following works by Prechter:

• "Financial-Economic Dichotomy: A Socionomic Perspective". This is an article by Robert Prechter and Dr. Wayne Parker published in the Summer 2007 Journal of Behavioral Finance.
• "Towards a new science of social forecasting: a paper at the London School of Economics". This is a two-hour video presentation on socionomics and financial theory for students and teachers (2009).
• "Social Sentiment, Stock Market Performance, and the US Presidential Election: A Socionomic Perspective on Voting Results". The article was published on the scientific research social network in January 2012, where it became the third most downloaded article of the year.

Market analysis and forecasting

Robert Prechter began applying the Wave Principle to the financial markets in1972. Every month he wrote a hundred pages of analysis of major markets around the world. His firm runs short-term updates three times a week for every region in the US, Europe, and Asia.

Awards

The main achievements in the career of the theorist were:

• First place in the 1984 US Championship of Trading with a record four-month return of 444% on a controlled real money options trading account.
• Elliot Wave Theory won numerous awards in the 80s.
• In 1989, Prechter was named "Guru of the Decade" by the Financial News Network.
• Canadian Society of Technical Analysts First Prize.
• 2003 Traders Library Hall of Fame Award
• 2013 Market Technician Association Annual Award.

Criticism

In addition to fans, Robert Prechter also has ill-wishers. Not all critics and experts perceive its continued success. Some of them don't believe in Elliot's theory. They consider it not natural, but beneficial and brightly presented to the general public.