ANSWER:

This is one of the most important questions so far asked in this forum. It was sent in by Paul Collaros of South Africa. The simple, unwavering answer to the above question is NO. This very important NEoWave rule is not part of R.N. Elliott`s original discoveries and is one nearly every orthodox wave analyst does not follow. Breaking this rule is one of the primary reasons most othodox wave analysts must change their wave counts so often. If R.N. Elliott had lived long enough, I`m sure he would have made this distinction eventually and incorporated my NEoWave TIME and LOGIC rules into his principle. But, it was not until 40 years later, in 1990 with the release of Mastering Elliott Wave, that major advances in the areas of time and logic were added to the field of wave analysis.

If you identify a pattern you think is a zigzag, but wave-b takes less time than waves-a and c, then either your count is entirely wrong OR what you think is a zigzag is actually the first three legs of a Trianlge – probably a NEoWave Neutral Triangle, but it could also be an Expanding Triangle (a Contracting Triangle is not an option under these conditions).