We present a derivation of the orbital and spin sum rules for magnetic circular dichroic spectra measured by electron energy loss spectroscopy in a transmission electron microscope. These sum rules are obtained from the differential cross section cal
culated for symmetric positions in the diffraction pattern. Orbital and spin magnetic moments are expressed explicitly in terms of experimental spectra and dynamical diffraction coefficients. We estimate the ratio of spin to orbital magnetic moments and discuss first experimental results for the Fe L_{2,3} edge.
