How to Forecast Like W. D. Gann, Part 1

Includes Printed Textbook Volume 1 and electronic Volume 2 Supplement with larger charts from the text that can be zoomed in on to study, and copies of Gann's source text upon which the study is based.

In 1930, at the conclusion of his book Wall Street Stock Selector, Gann wrote:

“After you have learned all of the rules laid down [in the books] and have learned how to apply them… you will then be ready for a post-graduate course and will probably want to know how to forecast according to my Master Time Factor… I teach all of these rules with my complete Forecasting Methods…”

At that time, he put together several courses of instruction, which he revised and updated in his 1936 Master Forecasting Course.

Much of the interest in Gann’s forecasting methods centres on his enigmatic book, Tunnel Thru the Air. But Gann himself stated, in the quote above, that he taught all his rules as part of his forecasting course.

The difficulty for the student is that the various courses are not grouped together in modern versions of the Stock Market Course, and even when you locate them, there are no charts to explain the examples he gives.

These obstacles have both been completely overcome in my new book, How to Forecast Like W.D. Gann Part 1: The 1930 and 1936 Master Forecasting Course.

I have pulled together all the lessons, as well as relevant passages from Gann’s books, and clearly demonstrated every single example on the charts.

In 1930, at the conclusion of his book Wall Street Stock Selector, Gann wrote:

“After you have learned all of the rules laid down [in the books] and have learned how to apply them… you will then be ready for a post-graduate course and will probably want to know how to forecast according to my Master Time Factor… I teach all of these rules with my complete Forecasting Methods…”

At that time, he put together several courses of instruction, which he revised and updated in his 1936 Master Forecasting Course.

Much of the interest in Gann’s forecasting methods centres upon his enigmatic book, The Tunnel Thru the Air. But Gann himself stated, in the quote above, that he taught all his rules as part of his Master Forecasting Course. The difficulty for the student today is that the various modern versions of the Gann Stock Market Course (except for the CosmoEconomics/Baumring Version, Collected Gann Volume 2), no longer group together the original courses as Gann offered them. And even when you do locate them, there are no charts included with them to explain the examples he gives. So, it is really impossible to make any serious analysis of the material to understand what Gann was really doing. 

Instead, you are left studying just the theoretical principles, then experimenting with them yourself on your modern charts, hoping to have understood them properly and applied them as Gann did. But, in truth, there is no way to confirm your level of insight unless you do the hard work of gathering the data so that you can check your results against Gann’s.

The alternative is to find a teacher who HAS done that real part of the work and see if you can get him to teach you how to do it. Otherwise, you’re simply left with a situation where the blind are leading the blind, passing on one misunderstanding after another, down a chain of confused students who never make any significant progress. This is what many of the Online Gann Groups are like, with many beginners with very little understanding, and a few further down the road, but most also never having done the real work.

The problem is that it is simply impossible to correct these flaws without the first step of reproducing the charts that Gann used when he presented his work and then following EXACTLY what he was doing at EVERY step.

These obstacles have both been completely overcome in my new book, How to Forecast Like W.D. Gann Part 1: The 1930 and 1936 Master Forecasting Course. I have pulled together all the original lessons, as well as relevant passages from Gann’s books, and clearly demonstrated every single example on the actual charts from that era, which required finding and collecting this rare archival data from microfiche, since NO modern data service possess it. Most modern analysts don’t bother doing much historical research anymore… 

Included in the course is a lesson on Vanadium Steel, which illustrates the special charts that Gann created combining Price and Volume within the same bar. There is also a brief section explaining the “Master Timing Angles”, which enable you to “know the exact measurements of cycles according to moving energy”, and “give you the cause of all market movements.”

The lion’s share of the lessons, however, are devoted to United States Steel, and I have supplemented this material with Gann’s lengthy commentaries, especially in Wall Street Stock Selector. There are detailed examples of the use of angles and time cycles in forecasting, and I have shown how to make up an Annual Forecast on any market. 

If you have my earlier book, How to Trade Like W.D. Gann, which analyses the trading lesson in U.S. Steel (written at the same time), you’ll find many interesting explanations for some of the trades in that lesson. It is clear that Gann was also drawing from this Master Forecasting Course while he was trading according to his Mechanical System and integrating the two approaches together.

Without seeing how Gann’s techniques are applied during his real-time trading, it is difficult to understand how his true trading methodology really works. This is why I consider this 3rd book in my series as contributing a new angle and perspective to the prior books refining Gann analysis and trading approach by the inclusion of a new set of rules which are overlaid, and which may supersede the rule set taught by the Mechanical Method.

If you are a serious student of W. D. Gann, I feel each of the books in this series will provide you with a deeper understanding and insight into his true work and methodology as a trader than almost anything else we have of his. There are a handful of places throughout Gann’s work where he presents these sequences of his trades, with stops, reversals, exits, but with fair little insight into his what, why and how.

In this book, attractively printed and presented by the Institute of Cosmological Economics, I have endeavoured to have the reader sit down in a classroom with one of history’s greatest traders, as W.D. Gann expounds his forecasting methods, just as he might have done privately almost a hundred years ago. 

I truly hope this series helps bring a new level of insight into Gann’s impressive body of work and provides a more accessible doorway to the application of his powerful principles and tools in modern markets.