William Delbert Gann was reputed to have made US$50 million from trading the stock and commodities markets. We will never know how accurate this figure is, however it is clear that he made a considerable amount of money.
Gann's awesome forecasting ability is beyond question. His annual forecasts sold for large sums of money due to their uncanny accuracy. He was able to make such accurate forecasts after discovering his Master Time Factor in 1908.
Soon after discovering this market timing tool, he traded two trading accounts. The first he opened with $300, and he made $25,000 in a period of three months. The second account started with $130 and he made $12,000 in the same 30 days.
Richard Wykoff, the well-known editor of the Ticker and Investment Digest and one of the most respected writers on the stock market of all time, wrote an article on Gann's discoveries and his exceptional trading ability. The article was titled 'William D. Gann. An Operator Whose Science and Ability Place Him in the Front Rank. His Remarkable Predictions and Trading Record'.
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During the month of October, 1909, in twenty-five market days, Mr. Gann made, in the presence of our representative, two hundred and eighty-six transactions in various stocks, on both the long and the short side of the market. Two hundred and sixty-four of these transactions resulted in profits; twenty-two in losses.
The capital with which he operated was doubled ten times, so that at the end of the month he had one thousand per cent. on his original margin.
… We have seen him give in one day sixteen successive orders in the same stock, eight of which turned out to be at either the top or the bottom eighth of that particular swing. The above we can positively verify.
Such performances as these, coupled with the foregoing, are probably unparalleled in the history of the Street.
Gann acknowledged having made half a million dollars from his trading over the previous few years.
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(Ticker and Investment Digest, Volume 5, Number 2, December, 1909, page 54.)
The representative of Ticker and Investment Digest was able to verify Gann's success as a trader. "I once saw him take $130, and in less that one month run it up to over $12,000. He can compound money faster than any man I ever met."
(Ticker and Investment Digest, Volume 5, Number 2, December, 1909, page 54.)
The publication of the Ticker and Investment Digest article made W.D. Gann famous. Subsequently, the New York Herald, the New York Sun, the New York Evening Telegram, the New York Morning Telegraph and other newspapers and journals throughout the world commented on his accurate stock and commodity forecasts.
Gann published his Annual Stock Forecast in December of each year. In his own words:
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This forecast gives the trend of stocks for the following year; gives dates each month when high and low prices will be made; tells when extreme highs or lows of the year can be expected; and also informs whether stocks are in a Bull or Bear cycle. This forecast is based on a "time" factor which I have discovered. I have been able to forecast every major campaign for the last twenty years. Copies of Forecasts of recent years mailed free.
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(Gann, W.D., Wall Street Stock Selector, Lambert-Gann Publishing Co. Inc., P.O. Box 0, Pomeroy, WA, U.S.A., 1930, Appendix page 46. Reprinted with the kind permission of Nikki Jones, owner of Lambert-Gann Publishing Co., Inc.)
The price of Gann's Annual Stock Forecast was $100.00 in 1930 - this was a large sum of money 70 years ago.
Late in Gann's life he taught selected students his forecasting methods. In 1954, at the age of 76, Gann's Great Master Course sold for US$5,000 - the price of an average house at that time. I believe that this course, and the letters he sent to his clients in the early 1950s, explained how he compiled his forecasts. Copies of many of these letters were discovered soon after the death of Gann's former partner, Ed. Lambert, two years ago.
Gann's most famous forecast, the forecast for 1929, warned that the Dow Jones Industrial Average (See '30 Industrials' below) would peak on September 3, 1929 and subsequently crash. History confirms that Gann predicted the exact end of the 1920's stock market boom. This was an extremely important top, as the market declined more than 90 percent until its low in 1932.
(Gann, W.D., Wall Street Stock Selector, Lambert-Gann Publishing Co. Inc., P.O. Box 0, Pomeroy, WA, U.S.A., 1930, Appendix page 12. Reprinted with kind permission of Nikki Jones, owner of Lambert-Gann Publishing Co., Inc.)
Gann's published forecasts in the period 1919 to 1926 were 85 to 90 percent accurate in picking intermediate and major market tops and bottoms. They are published in his courses.
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