# Has anyone made money from Gann?



## Mike Trader (22 May 2008)

There seems to be a lot of contradicting evidence around about Gann.Ganns son  has said his father had to sell the stock market and commodities courses to support his family,because he wasn't making enough from trading.That his assets  were only worth around $100,000 when he died-including his house.All the stuff about planets, cycles ,numbers sounds like voodoo to me.So it has to come down to 
whether it actually makes money.Has anyone made their fortune with it?


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## tech/a (22 May 2008)

Yeh plenty

All of those who pedal "The Dream".
Or should I say the "Grail".

I'll say it again.

Its NOT the Analysis (Any type of analysis Technical OR Fundamental that will turn you a profit ).

Its the Management of your Trading Business.

By the way assets of $100k in the late 30s (I think it was) was a sizable sum!


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## theasxgorilla (22 May 2008)

FWIW tech/a I think you're way oversimplifying things and detracting from the individual brilliance that some discretionary traders possess.  Managing the business is important, but not their core competence.  It's not why they extract money from the markets.

I don't know about this story about Gann.  It's probably impossible to verify without a lot of research, which is certainly not anything I'm about to embark on.

"The most effective method is a good example", Ingmar Kamprat, IKEA founder.

I don't use Gann myself, but I know of someone who uses it a lot, including wizardry like the sq of 9 and 144 lines and Gann fanns or geo-angles or whatever you want to call them...and astrology stuff thrown in.

Yes tech/a, he has many times more money than you, made it all trading, and is almost half your age.  And he's been known to sell a course.


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## Pager (22 May 2008)

I don't trade Gann and to be honest cant comprehend or get my head around allot of it particular the time and astrological side, but have met others who do use the methods and make a living, or should say they claim to but I've no reason to not believe them.

To me its just another method and for all I know its the money management side that makes these individuals profitable rather than Gann's methods.

They say around 80% of traders fail, so i guess that applies to all ways/methods of trading.


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## gazelle (22 May 2008)

Whats his name Gorilla ?   does he have any imfo or course outline on the web ?  

Regards Gazelle


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## julius (22 May 2008)

On the other hand, perhaps some discretionary traders profit in the market in _spite of_ their system/method/ability. 



theasxgorilla said:


> FWIW tech/a I think you're way oversimplifying things and detracting from the individual brilliance that some discretionary traders possess.  Managing the business is important, but not their core competence.  It's not why they extract money from the markets.


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## brty (22 May 2008)

Hi,

I can remember back in the early '90's following this stuff for a while. I can remember a squaring of time and price that was something like 1163 days forward from the 91 bottom (the fall of the SPI in the '87 crash) gave me a date of early Feb '94. This proved to be a double top with the 87 high.

Another time I predicted forward by about 2 months and over $2 a particular share price fro BHP, 91 I think. The price reached $13.95 on the exact day the squaring said it would. I bought $20k worth of put options, I was going to make a killing. The price continued higher the following trading day, and the day after that (I think you get the picture).

What I consequently learnt was that there are so many squarings of time and price, that to choose one in advance is just guesswork. I no longer go anywhere using any of these methods.

brty


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## tech/a (23 May 2008)

theasxgorilla said:


> FWIW tech/a I think you're way oversimplifying things and detracting from the individual brilliance that some discretionary traders possess.  Managing the business is important, but not their core competence.  It's not why they extract money from the markets.




I think that if you were/are privvy to their trading you'll find I'm pretty spot on.




> "The most effective method is a good example", Ingmar Kamprat, IKEA founder.




You'll find he is no different.



> I don't use Gann myself, but I know of someone who uses it a lot, including wizardry like the sq of 9 and 144 lines and Gann fanns or geo-angles or whatever you want to call them...and astrology stuff thrown in.
> 
> Yes tech/a, he has many times more money than you, made it all trading, and is almost half your age.  And he's been known to sell a course.




Most everyone I know is half my age.



brty said:


> Hi,
> 
> I can remember back in the early '90's following this stuff for a while. I can remember a squaring of time and price that was something like 1163 days forward from the 91 bottom (the fall of the SPI in the '87 crash) gave me a date of early Feb '94. This proved to be a double top with the 87 high.
> 
> ...




Gann like any other technical analysis throws up many "Pressure points" or "Point of interest" and like any other form of analysis if you have confluence and can manage your trading correctly you'll make a buck. Some will make big bucks.
Those who cant manage their trading will ultimately fail.


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## stevo (23 May 2008)

> Most everyone I know is half my age.



Maybe tech - but they are catching up all the time!

stevo


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## RobinHood (23 May 2008)

Tech/A. I've heard this a lot and I'm simply not getting it. Trade management is important, but if you don't have the kind of system able to produce gains you will never get anywhere, your just delaying the inevitable. 


I mean all professional traders have "trade management" through "risk departments" etc. But surely when you look at the top of the industry, it is the strategy/system that is the most important. D.E. Shaw, Renaissance, S.A.C all guard their trading systems because they believe they will loose their edge otherwise. And they are the best.

What is differentiating D.E Shaw or S.A.C vs some other hedge fund producing lower returns with higher risk? It cannot only be "trade management".



Are you defining trade management differently?


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## explod (23 May 2008)

There is little fact and a lot of myth on the work of W D GANN.  A lot of the myth seems to come from so-called Wall Street gurus who would prefer the individual to be tied to their dogma, for the obvious percuniary reasons.

Basically GANN was a researcher of methods and publisher, but did trade successfully too.

I have his main thesis first published in 1942, with many editions following, mine is 1976.  called "HOW TO MAKE PROFITS TRADING IN COMMODITIES" W.D. GANN, 1976 Lambert-Gann Publishing Co., Inc.

an example at page 43

"...

5. Do not buck the trend.  Never buy or sell if you are not sure of the trend according to your charts and rules.

6. When in doubt, get out, and don't get in when in doubt.

7.  Trade only in active markets.  Keep out of slow dead ones..."  and so on.


I like Gann's annual circle, I have made one up for the gold price and have entered highs and lows for the last 27years on this, have it above my computer and find it very helpful as a guide against my other signals.   There are very many ways of measuring seasonal fluctuations of the markets and the produce, there is also a big distinction between these last two.

Anyway a book well worth attention, very much more to GANN than I can put in just these few words.  Maybe not any holy grail but a further foundation to learning our trade that can only benefit.    So Well worth while if you can get hold of it IMHO


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## tech/a (23 May 2008)

R/H

I agree that ANY losing methodology cannot be saved by Trade Management alone.
So when do you know a methodology like Gann (The way most apply it) is a losing method---as you cant systems test it. You have to trade it to rules (I'm excluding Swing Trading in this statement) for a period.

But I have proven that mediocre methods can be improved dramatically with great trade management.



> Are you defining trade management differently?




If you and others are defining Trade Management as Risk Mitigation ONLY then YES.


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