William Gann: An Accurate Market Forecaster

[analyst75 12]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT MASTER TRADERS – PART 13

 

“Writing down a trading plan and sticking to it is the winning trader's secret weapon. If you create detailed trading plans and manage risk, you will increase your chances of success. Don't think you need to trade by the seat of your pants. Take things slowly. Map out your trading plan, and follow it. You will trade more calmly, creatively, and profitably.” – Joe Ross

 

Name: William Gann

Nationality: American

Date of Birth: June 6, 1878

Occupation: Trader, technical analyst and market forecaster

 

A HIGHLY SPIRITUAL TRADER

William’s dad was a cotton farmer.

 

He started trading in 1902 when he was 24. He developed and used the technical analysis tools known as Gann angles, Square of 9, Hexagon, Circle of 360 (these are Master charts). Gann market forecasting methods are based on geometry, astronomy and astrology, and ancient mathematics.

 

William was highly spiritual. Wikipedia says he was believed to be a religious man by nature who believed in religious as well as scientific value of Bible as the greatest book ever written. This can be repeatedly observed in his books. He was also a 33rd degree Freemason of the Scottish Rite Order, to which some have attributed his knowledge of ancient mathematics, though he was also known to have studied the ancient Greek and Egyptian cultures.

 

You would need to do your own research to know how Gann angles work. He made profits by his own speculative efforts. He profits were real and his forecasts were accurate.

 

William died on June 18, 1955.

 

What You Need to Know:

What you need to know about Williams was revealed by Justin Kuepper (Source: Trade2win.com) in his article of March 18, 2016. These are adapted excerpts from Justin’s article.

 

1. Predicting the future is impossible, right? If William Gann were around today, he’d beg to differ. His first prophecy is believed to have happened during World War I when he predicted the November 9, 1918, abdication of the Kaiser and the end of the war. Then in 1927, he wrote a book entitled "Tunnel Through The Air," which many believe predicted the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and the air war between the two countries.

 

2. William’s financial predictions were perhaps even more profound. In early 1929, he predicted that the markets would probably continue to rally on speculation and hit new highs… until early April. In his publication, The Supply and Demand Letter, he delivered daily financial forecasts focusing on both the stock and commodity markets. As this daily financial publication gained notoriety, William published several books - most notably "Truth", which was hailed by the Wall Street Journal as his best work. Finally, he began releasing the techniques that he used to make these forecasts: the Gann studies.

 

3. Did he produce any results? In 1908, William discovered what he called the "market time factor," which made him one of the pioneers of technical analysis. To test his new strategy, he opened one account with $300 and one with $150. It turned out to be wildly successful: William was able to make $25,000 profit with his $300 account in only three months; meanwhile, he made $12,000 profit with his $150 account in only 30 days! After his results were verified, he became famous on Wall Street as one of the best forecasters of all time.

 

In his article on Trade2win.com, Justin Kuepper concludes:

Is it possible to predict the future? W.D. Gann probably thought so, and seemingly proved it with his wildly successful returns. The system is relatively simple to use, but difficult to master. After all, it was Gann's uncanny ability to fine-tune his techniques that led him to enormous profits - the average investor is not likely to obtain these kinds of returns. Like many technical tools, Gann angles are best used in conjunction with other tools to predict price movements and profit.

 

This piece is ended by the quote below:

 

“Even though I'm young by many people's standards (28 years old this April), I feel like an old soul when it comes to trading. I've already been through many stressful high-volatility periods (9/11, the 2000-2002 market collapse, the 2008 Subprime Crisis, the Euro Crisis and the Flash Crash in 2010, the Chinese stock market crash in 2015... and many others). I think these experiences help me today to remain calm and cool-headed in difficult situations. ” - William Gandini (Source: Collective2.com)

 

 

Copyright: Tallinex.com

 

 

 

What Super Traders Don’t Want You to Know: Advfnbooks.com/books/supertraders/index.html

[JoelDarr 10]

Well, that's quite an inspiring piece. I wonder if by the end of his life he had some regrets.

[SILVER 10]

What kind of BS text quote is that anyway?

"stressful times" when he was a kid at 12 years of age,yeah right.

Quoting wikipedia always makes you look lazy and incompetent on some level.

WDG is always quoted as having been a 33deg mason, a piece of information rehashed over and over by lemmings unable to keep up with information coming to light. WDG only ever held a 3rd deg according to documents in possession of David Burton.

[JoelDarr 10]

I dunno, but I bet quite a few people regret the time spent studying his methods.

 

Really? Absolutely no point to listen to gurus?

[DbPhoenix 42]

Really? Absolutely no point to listen to gurus?

 

And to what "gurus" do you think there is a point in listening?

[jpennybags 11]

And to what "gurus" do you think there is a point in listening?

 

From Merriam-Webster:

 

Guru...

 

A religious teacher and spiritual guide in Hinduism (If that's your thing)

A teacher or guide that you trust (define trust...)

A person who has a lot of experience in or knowledge about a particular subject (My plumber qualifies...)

 

In reference to the first definition: You can listen to the sermon, but what you do after is up to you. Work out your own salvation in an honest way that both you and your god understand. The pastor won't answer for you at judgement day.

Edited July 25, 2016 by jpennybags

[DbPhoenix 42]

From Merriam-Webster:

 

Guru...

 

A religious teacher and spiritual guide in Hinduism (If that's your thing)

A teacher or guide that you trust (define trust...)

A person who has a lot of experience in or knowledge about a particular subject (My plumber qualifies...)

 

In reference to the first definition: You can listen to the sermon, but what you do after is up to you. Work out your own salvation in an honest way that both you and your god understand. The pastor won't answer for you at judgement day.

 

I'm not seeking salvation, just wondering what gurus Joel thinks have merit.

[jpennybags 11]

I'm not seeking salvation, just wondering what gurus Joel thinks have merit.

 

Oh My! I can see how my analogy to trading and guru's may have been taken literally in reference to the first definition. For all concerned... not my intent.

[zdo 20]

True story: Guru scheduled a hotel meeting hall. Seven hundred ‘traders’ packed the room. Over the course of 45 minutes he shared that he had found a unique way to use a very generic indicator and had that had enabled him to become a young wall street whiz and retire. He explained nothing further. He offered a free trial to his advisory service. Its performance was pretty dam good and three weeks later he called major top. The next day, Oct 16, 1987, he took profits on the close - in FEAR.

 

He was a great analyst trying to be a guru. He was not a fund(s) manager - else he wouldn’t have been so risk averse with profits. Gann was also a great analyst trying to be a guru. He was also not a fund(s) manager. Both of them lost subscribers in droves.

 

Gann hallucinated things that (still) do not exist. like... It would really be cool if market ‘geometry’ really was euclidian - but it ain’t.

 

A75 has been contributing vitae of successful ‘traders’.

I’m grateful he lived and did what he did with charts -but imo - Gann barely makes the cut into this list.