Fibonacci cobblers

The Independent reports new research from Roy Batchelor, professor of banking and finance at City University's Cass Business School, into the belief, apparently widespread among highly-paid stock analysts, that aspects of the behaviour of stock price movements obey occult rules derived from the well-known Fibonacci sequence and the Golden Mean, all mixed up with the surprisingly persistent Elliot Wave hypothesis ('theory' would be too kind a word). To no one's great surprise, this does indeed turn out to be bollocks -

He and the Cass researcher, Richard Ramyar, concluded that, contrary to beliefs held by many technical analysts, markets do not reverse at levels indicated by Fibonacci ratios.
Professor Batchelor said: "Nowadays, we think that most short-term movements in prices in financial markets are random. However, it is a natural human characteristic to look for patterns even in random data, and traders are under added pressure to rationalise their actions and display expertise.
"Theories of stock-market waves are manifestations of this illusion of control, the instinct that makes the dice harder when we want a high number."

As Julia Finch in the Guardian notes:
So will the nonsense now stop? No chance, [Batchelor] says, because the chart community needs every possible straw to grasp at - even if it is utter cobblers.