He studied ancient geometry and astrology to investigate how market events and specific numbers repeated across various time cycles. Essentially, everything has happened before and will eventually repeat itself. Gann often quoted the Book of Ecclesiastes, chapter 1, verse 9: “That which has been is what will be, that which is done is what will be done, and there is nothing new, under the sun.” He believed everything occurring in markets has historical reference points. Late in his career, he sold a ‘master course’ to private students for $5,000 apiece (roughly equivalent to $50,000 today). He also wrote a number of books throughout his life, including The Tunnel Thru the Air (a coded science fiction novel containing some of his core ideas) and 45 Years In Wall Street.

In 1923, he started another publication called The Busy Man’s Service, in which he gave specific trading recommendations. In 1919, Gann began publishing a daily market letter called The Supply and Demand Newsletter, covering stocks and commodities and making yearly forecasts. He further developed his investment strategy as a broker as he observed the mistakes made by his clients and learned from them. He soon opened his own brokerage firm, W.D. In 1903, a year after he began trading in the stock and commodity markets, Gann moved to New York City to work at a Wall Street brokerage firm. Gann started his career working at a brokerage firm in Texarkana and attending business school at night. His education mainly came from the Bible (he was raised a Baptist), which he used to learn to read, and in the cotton warehouses, where he learned about commodities trading. He neither graduated from grammar school nor attended high school as he was needed at home to work on the farm. Gann was born in 1878 in Lufkin, Texas, the first of 11 children in an impoverished cotton-farming family.

Was Gann really a great trader, or was he merely a guru who profited from selling books and running seminars? Early Life of W.D. Gann’s disciples claim he was one of the most successful stock and commodity traders who ever lived, while critics argue there’s no concrete proof he ever made a great fortune from speculation. Known for using geometry, astrology and ancient mathematics to predict events in the financial markets and historical events, Gann’s trading strategies are still widely used today, long after his death in 1955. William Delbert Gann is perhaps the most mysterious of all the famous traders in history.

Moon and w d gann