A mysterious and well-known trader worldwide, William Delbert Gann (WD Gann), invented many original trading strategies that countless traders still use today. His trading methods are still a mystery, leaving the general public with a great deal of curiosity as to how he achieved such success.
If you’re unfamiliar with Gann, you’ll most likely become his student and want to learn more about him after reading this article—as I did almost 20 years ago when I first heard about him through my broker.
On June 6th, 1878, WD Gann was born in Lufkin, Texas. Gann was the eldest of 11 children. He did not complete his education as he had to work on his family’s cotton farm.
He was raised in the Baptist tradition and maintained his religious beliefs throughout his lifetime. The Bible greatly influenced Gann’s life. Numbers and the Bible were extremely important to Gann. He gained knowledge about the time cycles from the Bible. Gann grasped the importance of the repetition of Significant events in numbers.
Gann’s early days in financial markets
In 1902, when he was 24 years old, he started trading on the commodity market. He began trading cotton as he was from the land of cotton. His father was a cotton farmer.
In 1906, he moved to Oklahoma City and worked as a broker in a firm that managed trading accounts for high-profile clients. Here, he realized that most people fail in the financial markets because they enter without any prior knowledge.
Within three years of his first commodity trade, WD Gann established himself as a big name in the Southwest at the age of 27, as his cotton price predictions were followed by many.
WD Gann Books and Supply and Demand Letters
In 1919, WD Gann published his thoughts on a Daily stock and commodities forecast. This was used to get published in ‘The Supply and Demand Newsletter,’ in which Gann would also write about yearly market predictions.
After four years of publishing the Successful Daily Market Letter (Supply and Demand Letters), Gann started offering subscribers selective market suggestions. His writing career’s success inspired him to write many books on trading and investing, which are still studied by many traders today.
One of his most important books is ‘The Tunnel Thru the Air.’
According to Gann, this book contains hidden secrets to some of his greatest trading methods. The next most popular and widely read WD Gann book is 45 Years in Wall Street. Gann traders worldwide consider this book by Gann as the “Bible” of stock trading.
The other books Gann has written are ‘Wall Street Stock Selector,’ ‘The Truth of the Stock Tape,’ ‘New Stock Trend Detector,’ ‘How to Make Profits in Commodities,’ ‘The Magic World,’ ‘Face Facts America- Looking Ahead to 1950’.
WD Gann Time Cycles Theory
One of the most valuable contributions of WD Gann to the world of trading was his concept of time cycles.
Gann used to believe that CYCLES control and influence every aspect of life and the financial markets. Gann said that understanding time cycles could help traders to pinpoint opportunities before they arise and prepare them for potential risks in advance. In his discussion of cycles, he often used biblical quotations.
“…What has been, what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun…” – Ecclesiastes 1:9
Gann was convinced that every event in the financial market has a historical connection. WD Gann built his $50 million trading empire through hard work and discipline. Geometry, Astrology, Ancient Mathematics, and the knowledge of Time cycles were the backbone of the Gann formula for trading.
Gann often stated that traders who wish to succeed in the market must look at historical events. He used to say that he could predict future market movements if he had all the historical market data.
According to Gann, the 60-year cycle is an important time cycle. He said that significant events repeat themselves every 60 years. The 60 years can be broken down into THREE cycles of 20 years, with repetition taking place at the end of each cycle.
One of the WD Gann most Famous trades
Back in 1909, he made headlines for accurately Predicting the future price of wheat.
At that time, the daily price of wheat would only change by about 1 cent, and it had never reached $1.20 per bushel. Despite this, Gann said it would go up to $1.20 by the end of September.
People were doubtful at first, but Gann stood by his forecast. On the last day of trading in September, the price of wheat started at around $1.07. Gann said that if the price didn’t hit $1.20 by the end of the day, then his prediction method was imperfect.
Amazingly, in the last hour of trading, the price jumped from $1.07 to $1.20, just as he had predicted. This event made him famous and trusted for his ability to forecast market prices.
So, how did he do it?
Gann had a unique way of predicting prices that included using Geometry (shapes and lines), Astronomy (the study of stars and planets), and Ancient Mathematics.
My research shows that the secret behind his 1909 wheat price prediction was a hidden mathematical formula. This formula was based on past wheat prices, and Gann had written about it in a mysterious book called ‘Tunnel Through The Air.’
Here are a few FQAs about WD Gann and his trading methods and work.
Gann indicators are a set of technical analysis tools based on W.D. Gann’s work. They are used to identify potential support and resistance levels, predict future price movements and identify potential trend reversals.
Some of the most common Gann indicators include:
Gann angles: These lines are drawn to the price axis at specific angles. They are used to identify potential support and resistance levels.
The Square of Nine: This grid is used to identify key price levels.
The Circle of 360: This Circle is divided into 360 degrees. Each degree represents a potential price level.
The exact amount of money that Gann made is unknown. However, some estimates range from $100,000 to $50 million. Gann likely made a significant amount of money from trading, but the exact amount is impossible to say for sure.
Ultimately, we may never know for sure how much money Gann made. However, there is no doubt that he was a successful trader and made a significant amount of money from his trading career.
Gann’s time cycle is a theory developed by W.D. Gann, a famous trader and market analyst. Gann believed that the market moves in a natural time cycle and that traders could predict future price movements by understanding these cycles.
Gann said there are various time cycles, such as the 3-year cycle, 7-year cycle, 11-year cycle, and 20-year cycle. He also theorized that these cycles could be merged to form longer ones.
