W.D. Gann - Editorial review

Editor's note:- This 'spoof' article has been written by a very successful Gann Trader, and is only a 'bit of fun', an attempt to lighten people's dour impressions of the 'Great Man'. In reality we are led to believe that there are many hugely successful Gann traders out there, and we include a link at the foot of the page to one of the best Gann sites on the web! Enjoy! - Ed.

In all areas of life, there are strange (usually bearded) people who will fix you with an intense stare and make you aware that in this world of ours, unseen powers are at work. The ideas of 'W.D. Gann' (1878-1955) fall into this category, at least to the casual observer. Mr Gann was a full-on mystic, who believed the markets were powered by strange magical forces. Like most 'mystic' systems, sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't (c.f. 'Elliot Waves'?). It is also rumoured that Mr Gann died leaving a net estate of only $50K, including his house, and neither his children or other dependents seem particularly well off nowadays. Other sources claim he made over $50million, at a time when that was regarded as 'serious money'!

W.D. Gann - The Square of 9

W.D. Gann believed in angles of all sorts. In fact a lot of people think he invented the right angle, although this is incorrect, as Gann himself never inclined past 60 degrees from true north.With these angles, trends were allegedly determined, and reversals predicted.

Being a mystic, Gann settled early on the number 8, and all his favorite angles depend on dividing 8 by some other figure in order to produce yet another number that can be used in predicting times and prices. No one seems in our opinion to quite understand what he meant, as his writings were never particularly clear, and a whole industry has sprung up hoping to rediscover the magical 'air tunnel' secrets that W.D. claimed were so great.

Jokes aside, there does seem to be a body of evidence that he made some great forecasts, which were printed in newspapers of the time, and earned him his Gann-like status.

Every commodity or stock seems to have needed tweaking in Gann's system, a no-no in modern systems, as 'curve fitting' is the bane of any decent trading system developer.

W.D Gann - Angles to go

Gann's favorite word was 'isosceles', and his favorite pudding was vanilla ice cream, according to a man we met who sleeps rough near the local wine warehouse. As to the accuracy of this statement, we can make no claims, although the chances are it is as correct as any other statement about the Great Man.

Gann also discovered that two triangles can be used to make an interesting 'square' shaped thingy, which although it has no utility for stock trading, can be useful for propping up tables with legs of differing sizes.

Most 'Disciples' prefer weekly Gann angles, drawn on a weekly bar chart. However, it is rumoured that Gann himself preferred to 'square the circle' before committing to a trade, and this, together with the 'tunnel thru the air' (probably caused by eating too many beans) gave him a winning advantage over other contemporary traders, who had made the classic mistake of dividing by 9, not 8.

W.D. Gann - Support & Resistance

Gann has many supporters, and just as many detractors who claim he was a nutter. We have no opinion either way, and offer this page purely as a fun interlude in the serious business of trading.

If you want to know more about the Gann-man, you could try , who, despite being a bunch of limeys, seem to have the best rep in the industry Gann-wise, and also seem to have a loyal and satisfied client base. Just our personal opinions, of course.

W.D. Gann - does it work?