Are you trying to find motivation and change your life? It's a sign for you to start acting! If a boy from a large, almost penniless family managed to live a better life, you can surely too! Who was this boy? His name was William Gann. He is considered to be one of the most remarkable traders of all time. He worked out several trading techniques. His trading strategies are still widely used, long after he died in 1955. In MetaTrader, you can find some indicators named after him! Sounds impressive? Let's have a look at his path to a prosperous life.
When it All Started
William Delbert Gann, or just W. D., as he was called in his young ages, was born in 1878 in Texas and lived around the cotton warehouses in Angelina County. He was the first of 11 children in a cotton-farming family. The financial state of his family influenced his education a lot. Instead of school, he had to work on the farm and in the cotton warehouse, where he learned about commodity trading. As a result, he didn't graduate from grammar school and never attended high school.
Believing in Hard Work
In his teen years, William worked as a news butcher on the passenger train. Selling the newspapers, food, and cigars, a 13-year-old boy trained to be quick-witted, aggressive, and able to deal with people of all kinds. These traits served him well later in his career.
Gann's education was formed around the Bible. His mother, a very religious person, wanted W.D. to become a minister. The future millionaire was raised under the pressure of the Methodist church.
However, he didn't protest. The way things were going pretty satisfied him. He went to church every Sunday and found out that his interpretation of the Bible much differed from the minister's. Gann read the Holy Scripture devotedly and discovered time cycles, significant number repetitions, astrology basics, and many other pivotal factors that helped him earlier in his job and life in general.
Many years later, Gann became famous as the mathematically gifted finance trader, using geometry, astrology, and ancient mathematics to predict events in the financial markets and history itself.
Decisive Turning Point
Going back to the story, at the age of 25, he moved to New York City to work in a major Wall Street Brokerage house. How could he do it? He was hungry for knowledge. Two years before his move, Gann began his trading career working in a brokerage in Texarkana while attending business school at night. At that time, W. D. Gann made his first commodity trade in cotton. This small profit marked the beginning of the fascinating 53-year journey full of trading, writing, researching, and success.
Deep Expertise – Striking Results
In 1906, W. D. changed NY to Oklahoma City. He continued trading for himself and work as a broker for a brokerage firm. Handling an enormous number of clients' accounts, Gann was able to study the cause of other traders' success and failure. He found that level of success depended on the range of knowledge traders had when entering the market. Over 90% of those who weren't prepared properly or had a lack of study in trading lost their money as a rule.
Gann himself wasn't good enough as well, so he lost a lot. Later on, he admitted that his trading was based mostly on three primary triggers – hope, greed, and fear. To break this toxic circle, he devoted ten years to study natural laws of periodical recurrence and how to apply them to market moves. Look a little bit weird? W. D. didn't think so.
There was a thought in Gann's head about rising and falling in stocks and commodities indeed repeat after a while. His passion for mystics and numerology led him to England, Egypt, and India. The legendary trader came there to gain knowledge in ancient mathematics, geometry, and astrology. After extensive research, he discovered the Law of Vibration, which enabled Gann to predict the behavior of stock and commodity prices accurately to the cent.
Trading Techniques and Indicators
As you can see, Gann found the most appropriate mathematical and geometrical approaches to use in forecasting price moves in the market. He created indicators that relied on geometrical angles. The fact that price moves occurred in predictable geometric cycles made Gann guess that the resulting angles act as support or resistance on the chart. And he was right.
If you want to use Gann's approach in your trading, bear in mind that these indicators work better when applied to bigger time frames. Higher accuracy in the longer term – you can find it in the Gann set of indicators.
Moreover, Gann accumulated several trading techniques for profitable trading. Feel free to use them when you make a trade. They're still useful even though Gann passed away 66 years ago.
Gann's Trading Rules
- If the entire week's high price is achieved on Friday, expect higher prices next week.
- If the entire week's low price is achieved on Friday, expect a lower price next week.
- In a highly up-trending market weekly low is achieved on Tuesday.
- If the market is in a strong downtrend (if the main trend is down), the weekly highs are generally achieved on Wednesday.
- When the price crosses the high of the last four weeks, it's an advance indication of higher prices.
- When the price breached the low of the last four weeks, it's an advance indication of lower prices.
- In an up-trending market, if the prices break the 30 DMA & remain below it at least for two consecutive days, it tells us of a much more significant correction (and vice versa).
- If the market rises for five consecutive days, there is a high probability that correction will be lasting for three days.
- When the price starts rising from a particular level, relative strength (Rs) is 100 or 100% rise, whichever is earlier, becomes a strong resistance.
- When the price crosses the high of the last three days, it tells us about much higher prices on the 4th day.
- If the subsequent correction is greater than the previous correction both in terms of price & time magnitude, this is an advance indication that the trend is changing.
- 50% of the last highest-selling price is the strong support area. Any stock that is trading below this 50% level is not that useful for investment.
- If a price is rising for nine consecutive days at a stretch, then there is a high probability of a correction for five consecutive days.
- Don't ignore a Double Bottom & Triple Bottom signal on a monthly chart after a minimum gap of 6 months.
- Don't ignore a Double Top & Triple Top signal on a monthly chart after a minimum gap of 6 months. (Not the right place for investment/entry, the price may fall).
- When the price is in a choppy phase or a consolidation phase, if a sudden volume spike is found there, it's an advance indication that the trend is likely to change.
- In a quarterly time frame, when a particular stock crosses the high or low of the last quarter (in the quarterly chart), it should be considered an early indication that the underlying trend is trying to reverse.
What is the Secret?
The comprehensive market overview made by Gann still allows modern traders to plan the market moves right. What is the mystery behind such relevancy? Maybe the strong personality and continued belief in what should be done? Or quality research and constant moves toward the clear goal? Or all in one? Don't be afraid and give it a try! You can apply this approach to your work on Forex and see the results. FBS is always by your side.
