Great Traders: Fascinating Facts About WD Gann

Out of all the famous traders I have written about in this blog William Delbert Gann (1878 – 1955), also known as WD Gann, is certainly one quirkiest and most eccentric. He was a religious man who looked for inspiration in geometry, ancient mathematics and even astrology for his analysis methods and his disciples claimed that he was one of the most successful stock and commodity traders in history, while his detractors said that there’s no proof that he ever made a fortune from his trading. Despite the criticism some of his less esoteric analysis methods are used to this day. Here are some interesting facts about about WD Gann:

-He was born in a poor cotton farming family in Texas, USA and had ten brothers and sisters. His primary education was in the form of the Bible and the cotton warehouses, where he first learned about commodities trading. Later he attended a night business school and began working in a brokerage firm in Texarkana. He was able to open his own firm in 1903, called WD Gann & Company. 

-WD Gann was an avid writer, first publishing daily to even yearly forecasts about commodities and stocks trading, and later published a number of books on various topics – from technical analysis to science fiction.

-As I mentioned above, he looked for inspiration for his analysis methods in rather esoteric places, such as ancient mathematics, astrology and geometry. He firmly believed that the market moved in cycles and that everything that happened in it had historical reference points.

-He was a 33rd degree Freemason of the Scottish Rite Order.

-He developed a number of technical analysis tools, including the Gann Angles, which many traders use to this day, decades after his passing. However, I think it should be mentioned that the legitimacy of his methods has been questioned.

Whether WD Gann was truly a great trader or merely a celebrity “guru” is a matter of significant debate. One thing is for certain – he has left his mark on trading history.