The ability to make money in the world's financial markets depends critically on an individual's ability to make decisions independently of the crowd. To attain such independence, the investor or trader must acquire the capacity to understand the forces at work in logical terms, recognize (and neutralize) any emotional responses to market fluctuations, and design an investment process or trading system that generates objective 'buy' or 'sell' signals. This fifth edition has been completely updated to take the author's latest research into account, providing the reader with an in-depth assessment of the phenomenon of cycles, patterns of economic and financial activity, and using cycles as a forecasting tool.