The impulse pattern  consists of five waves. The five waves can be in  either direction, up or  down. Some examples are shown to the left and  below.

The first wave is usually a weak rally with only a small percentage of the traders participating. Once Wave 1 is over, they sell the market on Wave 2. The sell off in  Wave 2 is very vicious. Wave 2 will finally end  without making new lows  and the market will start to turn around for another rally.

The initial stages of the Wave 3 rally is slow and it finally makes it to the top of the previous rally (the top of Wave 1).

At this time, there are a lot of stops above the top of Wave 1.

Traders are not convinced of the upward trend and are using this rally to add more shorts. For their analysis to be correct, the market should not take the top of the previous rally.

Therefore, a large amount of stops are placed above the top of Wave 1.

The Wave 3 rally picks up steam and takes the top of Wave 1. As soon as the Wave 1 high is exceeded, the stops are taken out. Depending on the amount of stops, gaps are left open. Gaps are a good indication of a Wave 3 in  progress. After taking the stops out, the Wave 3  rally has caught the attention of traders.

The next sequence of events are as follows: Traders who were initially long from the bottom finally have something to cheer about. They might even decide to add positions. The traders who were stopped out (after being upset for a while) decide the trend is up and they decide to buy into the rally. All this sudden interest fuels the Wave 3 rally.

This is the time when the majority of the traders have decided that the trend is up.

Finally, all the buying frenzy dies down, Wave 3 comes to a halt.

Profit taking now begins to set in. Traders who were long from the lows decide to take profits. They have a good  trade and start to protect profits. This causes a pullback in the prices and is called Wave 4.

Wave 2 was a vicious sell-off, Wave 4 is an orderly profit taking decline. While profit taking is in progress, the majority of traders are still convinced the trend is up. They were either late in getting in on this rally, or they have been on the sideline.

They consider this profit taking decline as an excellent place to buy-in and get even.

On the end of Wave 4, more buying sets in and the prices start to rally again.

The Wave 5 rally lacks the huge enthusiasm and strength found in the Wave 3 rally. The Wave 5 advance is caused by a small group of traders.

While the prices make a new high above the top of Wave 3, the rate of power, or strength, inside the Wave 5 advance is very small when compared to the Wave 3 advance.

Finally, when this lackluster buying interest dies out, the market tops out and enters a new phase.