William D. Gann / The geometer of Wall Street
A Texas cotton-farm boy who believed price and time move in geometric proportion. His name is on the Gann Fan and Square of Nine in almost every charting platform, but most of his famous track record can’t be verified. This page separates legend from evidence and lets you try his tools yourself.
W. D. GANN1878 – 1955
Gann grew up on a cotton farm near Lufkin, Texas, the eldest child of a large family of 11 siblings. He didn’t go on to high school because he had to work on the farm, but from an early age he saw cotton prices rise and fall with the seasons and market rumours.
He was raised in a Baptist family and read the Bible regularly. Many students of his work believe his interest in numbers, time cycles and proportion, which runs through his writing, was partly inspired by this.
Born on 6 June 1878 into a cotton-farming family outside Lufkin, Texas, the eldest of 11 siblings. He had to work on the farm and did not go on to high school
Gann’s core beliefHe believed the market doesn’t move randomly but follows natural laws measurable by time, price and angle. This belief is both the appeal of his work and the reason academics have always questioned it
Gann’s reputation was built on many stories. Some have real documents behind them but can’t be verified further; some have no evidence at all. Tap each card to flip from legend to evidence, then filter by how reliable it is.
October 1909: 286 trades, 264 winners, 22 losers, capital up 1,000%
The figures come from an article in the December 1909 issue of the Ticker and Investment Digest, citing an observer named William E. Gilley. No trading account or statement was ever published for verification
He predicted September wheat would hit $1.20 before the end of the month, and it touched exactly 1.20 in the last hour of 30 Sep
This story appears in the same article, based on the observer’s account. No prediction recorded publicly before the event has been found
His annual forecast, issued in late 1928, said the bull market would end around 3 Sep 1929, followed by a sharp fall
The Dow did make its pre-crash peak on 3 Sep 1929, but most of the forecast text passed around comes from sellers of Gann courses, and no one has collected all his forecasts to compare how often he was right or wrong
Some students believe this novel hides a secret trading code and predicted a war between the US and Japan
It is a science-fiction novel. The idea of a hidden code is the interpretation of later readers; Gann himself never explained how to decode it
Stories on many websites and courses claim he made tens of millions of dollars from the markets
His estate at death was reported at about $100,000, including his home. No document has been found confirming profits in the tens of millions
The popular image of Gann is a trader who lived off his market profits
Alexander Elder wrote in Trading for a Living (1993) that Gann’s son, John L. Gann, said his father could not support the family by trading, but earned his income from writing and selling courses
Many courses and websites claim Gann’s tools pinpoint reversals accurately
No research published in an academic journal has been found confirming that Gann’s angles or time cycles perform better than chance. Most examples shown are cherry-picked successes
Wrote books, newsletters and trading courses for decades
Confirmed. Books such as Truth of the Stock Tape (1923) and 45 Years in Wall Street (1949) are still in print today, and tools named after him are in many charting platforms
A Gann Fan is a set of lines drawn from a key turning point. The main line is the 1×1, meaning price moves 1 unit for every 1 unit of time. The 2×1 line is steeper (2 units of price per unit of time) and the 1×2 is flatter. Gann believed that if price holds above the 1×1, the uptrend is still strong; if it breaks below, price often pulls back to the next line.
What people often overlook is the word unit. Change how many points one price unit equals and the whole set of lines changes. Move the scale slider below and see how a line that looks like perfect support can instantly become meaningless.
Price data is made up for learning, not real market prices
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The Square of Nine starts with 1 in the centre, then spirals numbers outwards. Numbers on the cross and diagonal lines sit at 0, 45, 90 and so on up to 315 degrees, and Gann followers treat them as price levels to watch. Mathematically, one full turn (360 degrees) equals adding 2 to the square root of the price
Tap a number in the grid to see its angle
| Angle | Resistance up | Support down |
|---|
Formula: level = (√price ± angle ÷ 180)² · For Forex prices, remove the decimal point first, e.g. 1.0850 becomes 10850
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Gann gave time as much weight as price. He counted days from key highs or lows in intervals such as 30, 45, 90, 180 and 360 days, seeing these numbers as parts of the 360-degree circle. Gann followers also watch dates that divide the year into 8 seasonal parts, such as the equinoxes and solstices
For Forex and gold traders, dates from cycle counts are only periods to be extra careful, not signals to enter a trade. A more proven tool is the economic calendar, because rate decisions and key data releases really do move the market every time
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Time cycles are hard to test, because if you count many cycles at once, almost any day will match one of them. Backtest on the market you actually trade before using them. · Check big news dates in the economic calendar
While his angles and time cycles are still debated, the trading rules in 45 Years in Wall Street are risk-control principles that professional traders still use today. Below are the 10 most important. Tick the ones you actually followed in the past month.
Gann’s core idea is that when price moves one unit per unit of time, the market is in balance. Faster or slower than that signals a stronger or weaker trend
Draw lines from a key low or high at ratios of 1×1, 1×2, 2×1 and so on, used as support and resistance that move with time
The Square of Nine arranges numbers in a spiral and treats numbers on the cross or diagonal lines as price levels to watch
Count days from key turning points, such as 30, 45, 90, 180 and 360 days, plus anniversaries, to find periods when the market may change direction
45 Years in Wall Street sums up 24 rules, mostly about stop losses, position size and discipline, which still work today
Angles on a chart depend on the scale you choose, and there is very little research confirming that Gann’s angles or time cycles predict the market better than chance
Gann’s rules 2 and 16 are to always place a stop loss and never cancel it. This is the undisputed part of his legacy
Gann allowed risking up to 1/10 of capital per trade, but today’s standard is 1–2%, because 7 losses in a row at 10% wipe out more than half your capital
Gann angles and the Square of Nine always produce price levels, but those levels only mean something once backtesting shows they work better than chance
Even if you don’t use Gann’s time cycles, Forex and gold traders should know when big news is due, because volatility tends to cluster around those times
Question 1 / 5
He was born in 1878 near Lufkin, Texas, into a cotton-farming family.
The angle on screen is only 45 degrees when the chart’s price and time scales match.
The article cites an observer’s account. There is no trading account to verify.
This is far higher than today’s standard of 1–2% per trade.
180 degrees adds 1 and 360 degrees adds 2 to the square root, which is then squared back into a price.
What you can use right away from Gann’s legacy are his risk rules. Try the geometric tools on a demo account first. Here are tools on 1TRADER that help
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There is no confirming evidence. His estate at his death in 1955 was reported at about $100,000 including his home, and Alexander Elder wrote that Gann’s son, John L. Gann, said his father earned his main income from writing and selling courses. The trading record often quoted comes from a 1909 article that can’t be verified.
A set of lines drawn from a key turning point at price-to-time ratios such as 1×1 (1 unit of price per 1 unit of time), 2×1 and 1×2, used as support and resistance that move with time. You must set a clear scale, because if the scale changes, the whole set of lines changes too.
You can calculate with it, but first convert the price to a number without decimals, e.g. EUR/USD 1.0850 becomes 10850. The results are only levels worth watching, not trading signals. Backtest on the pairs you trade before using real money.
They are in the book 45 Years in Wall Street (1949). The main ones: split your capital into 10 parts and risk no more than one part per trade, always use a stop loss, don’t overtrade, never let a profit turn into a loss, don’t buck the trend, when in doubt get out, never average a loss, and never cancel a stop loss.
Start with the trading rules in 45 Years in Wall Street, because they are easy to understand and use right away. Then try tools like the Gann Fan on a demo account, and beware of courses claiming to have Gann’s secret formula, because most have no evidence of real results.
Educational content, not investment advice. Some biographical details differ between sources, and Gann’s trading record has no verifiable evidence. The tools on this page use made-up data for learning. · risk disclosure · Forex glossary
