locale: en title: "Cyclic analysis" slug: discipline-cyclic-analysis summary: "The study of time in markets — cycles, recurrence, harmonics and rhythmic price structure." status: published pillar: hub discipline_id: cyclic tagline: "The study of time in markets." translation_of: it/hub/discipline-analisi-ciclica updated: 2026-06-23
Cyclic analysis
The study of time in markets.
Cyclic analysis is not “the Hurst page”. Hurst is a central reference, but the discipline is broader: market cycles, seasonality, waves, harmonics, time windows, dominant cycles, FLD, multi-timeframe synchronisation.
What it's for
Cyclic analysis studies market behaviour through the temporal recurrence of price moves. It observes when oscillations tend to be born, expand, mature and close — not only where price goes.
| What it observes | What it measures | When it's useful |
|---|---|---|
| Time repetition | Period, phase, amplitude | Entry/exit timing |
| Overlapping cycles | Harmonics, sub-cycles | Multi-timeframe context |
| Rhythmic structure | Cyclic lows/highs, FLD | Confirmation or filter for chart patterns |
J.M. Hurst is among the most important references for cyclic analysis applied to markets (dominant cycles, temporal structure of oscillations). The discipline also connects with Dow and Wyckoff — both reason in phases and sequences, though not strictly in a cyclic sense.
Core concepts
| Term | In Cyclepedia |
|---|---|
| Cycle | market-cycle |
| Dominant cycle | hurst-nominal-cycles |
| Cyclic low / high | swing-high-low · md-fluctuation |
| Cyclic phase | entry coming |
| Amplitude | volatility |
| Period | entry coming |
| Harmonic / sub-cycle | nesting-envelope |
| Multi-timeframe | timeframe |
| FLD | fld |
| VTL (valid trend line) | valid-trend-line |
| Cyclic moving averages | moving-average · inverse-moving-average-hurst |
| Synchronisation | entry coming |
| Seasonality | entry coming |
Related tools
| Tool | Role |
|---|---|
| Curvilinear envelope | Band around the cyclic oscillation |
| Nesting envelope | Nested cycles across scales |
| Spectral / Fourier analysis | Frequency decomposition |
| Hurst nominal cycles | 5, 10, 20, 40, 80… bars |
| FLD (Future Line of Demarcation) | Temporal projection of the cycle |
| Price motion model | Trend + cycles + noise decomposition |
| Numerical filters (Ormsby) | Frequency band isolation |
Entries: curvilinear-envelope · nesting-envelope · spectral-analysis-hurst · price-motion-model
Representative traders and authors
| Figure | Contribution |
|---|---|
| j-m-hurst | Transactional timing, envelopes, nominal cycles |
| W.D. Gann | Time and price, angles, geometric cyclicality |
| Charles Dow | Market phases, primary/secondary trend |
| richard-wyckoff | Accumulation/distribution phases |
| Raymond Merriman | Financial cyclicality |
| Walter Bressert | Cycles and timing |
| Brian Millard | Modern cyclic analysis |
| Anthony Plummer | Cyclic forecasting |
Recommended path
For newcomers — in this order:
- market-cycle — what a cycle is
- timeframe — price and time across scales
- swing-high-low — swings and turning points
- hurst-nominal-cycles — dominant cycle
- fld — FLD
- timeframe + nesting — multi-timeframe
- tradizione-hurst — operational cyclic strategy (Hurst path)
Before Hurst fundamentals: complete at least bronze-path.
Links
- tradizione-hurst — Hurst book path
- fondamenti — cyclic theory (Ch. 2)
- glossario — technical term index
- metodologie — Hurst operational techniques