William Delbert Gann (WD Gann) stands out as one of the successful traders of the 19th century, blending time cycles, astrology, geometry, and ancient mathematics to create his trading strategies. With a highly recognized reputation on Wall Street, Gann managed to generate impressive profits with relatively small initial capital.
Early Life Profile of William Delbert Gann
Born in Lufkin, Texas, Gann hailed from a poor cotton farming family. Despite not continuing his education to high school due to obligations to assist his family on the farm, his drive to change his fate continued to grow. He spent his spare time reading the Bible and studying commodity trading in the cotton warehouse where he worked.
In 1901, Gann secured employment at a brokerage firm in Texas while attending business school at night. By 1903, he relocated to New York and eventually established his own brokerage firm, WD Gann & Company. The peak of his success occurred during the Panic of 1907, where he successfully predicted the financial crisis and generated significant profits by applying his Master Time Factor strategy.
A Phenomenal Trader Guided by Time Cycles
Gann was a deeply religious trader who believed that everything in the market had historical reference points. He viewed the future as a repetition of the past, and time was the key to market movements. By applying this method, Gann could identify when the laws of nature would govern human actions within specific time cycles.
One of his phenomenal predictions was when he forecasted the outbreak of World War II and the Great Depression. Gann even spent months at the New York Astor Library researching stock and commodity markets and studying prices from various historical periods.
Gann's Reputation as a Stock Trader
Gann's reputation as a stock trader was highly acclaimed. In 1909, he executed 286 trades in 25 days, with 264 of them being profitable. During that period, Gann managed to multiply his capital tenfold, showcasing his exceptional trading abilities.
Gann Angles, Gann's Created Indicator
Gann Angles is one of the technical indicators created by Gann. This indicator utilizes support and resistance lines in a unique manner, allowing traders to create angles from these lines and better identify market trends.
William Delbert Gann passed away in 1955, but his legacy in the trading world continues to thrive. By employing strategies learned from the past, Gann has inspired many traders worldwide and proved that knowledge of time cycles can be the key to success in trading.