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Experts say this magical numerological chart has predicted stock market for over 100 years.

W.D. Gann Financial Time Table 1909

An almost magical chart that predicts more than 90% of stock and real estate movements?

W.D. Gann's Timetable Predicts major crash

According to some, it’s an almost-magical chart that has accurately predicted more than 90% of stock and real estate market movements for the past one hundred years and has the ability to predict market changes through an infinite future. It’s based primarily on the numerological change of the moon’s angle that occurs every 18.6 years. Few are aware of its existence. Skeptical? Economist Fred Foldvary used the chart to predict the devastating 2008 recession – more than a decade before it happened. In 1997, he wrote:

“The next major bust, 18 years after the 1990 downturn, will be around 2008, if there is no major interruption such as a global war.”

Gann’s chart successfully predicted the historical stock market lows in 1914, 1933, 1952, and 1970. It predicted the Great Depression. And it predicts another major crash around 2024.

WD Gann’s magical Financial Timetable

William Delbert Gann

Hailing from Lufkin, Texas, William Delbert Gann, or WD Gann as he like to be called, was highly educated, highly religious, and a 33rd degree Freemason of the Scottish Rite Order, a distinction which some believe granted him access to the Mason’s knowledge of ancient mathematics and numerology.

In 1909, using mathematics combined with astronomical charts, Gann developed a financial technical analysis tool called the Gann Financial Time Table. The chart uses geometric angles in stock price graphs, time cycles, astronomical cycles, and the angular position of the moon to form predictions. When his table was first published in 1909, financial analysts were skeptical even though Gann had already accumulated more than $50 million in profits (in 1930’s dollars) using the system.

To quieten skeptics, Gann enlisted a major financial publication to track a series of trades. Over the course of 25 days, Gann placed 286 trades. 264 of those trades were profitable – a 92% success rate. Analysts soon found that not only could the chart predict stock market prices, including what price to buy into and when to exit the position, but also the years of recessions, depressions, panics, real estate prices, commodity prices, labor strikes, and much more.

Today we know Gann’s chart has accurately predicted stock prices for over one hundred years and real estate prices for over two hundred years. Even Harvard professor Teo Nicolais confirmed the system works:

“Perhaps the most stunning aspect of the cycle is not its inevitability but rather its regularity. Economists, through a detailed study of the Chicago and broader US real estate markets, found that the real estate cycle has run its course according to a steady 18-year rhythm since 1800.”

The enigmatic lunar cycle used in Gann’s Financial Timetable

One the most unusual aspects of Gann’s chart is its use of the angle of the moon’s north pole. It’s an astronomical movement called “lunar standstill”, when the range of the declination of the moon (measured by altitude) reaches a maximum – the moon’s equivalent of a solar solstice. It’s the same event that held special significance for those who built megalithic monuments in the United States, Britain, Ireland, and South America. It’s also the cycle believed to have influenced the formation of ancient Masonic law.

The moon completes this cycle every 18.6 years which for whatever reason, does indeed coincide with major market movements, both stock and the well-known real estate cycle, which tend to experience significant fluctuations every 18 years and 8 months. To date, there are neither scientific nor economic explanations for the phenomena.

Other principles taught by WD Gann

Cover of William D. Gann The Collected Writings of W.D. Gann Volume 1

Although primarily based on the 18-year lunar standstill cycle, Gann also insisted that his method be used within a framework of rules – a financial code that must be considered when executing financial transactions. Specifically, he noted the following:

  1. Time cycles determine when a stock reversal will occur – not divergences as commonly believed.
  2. Government interference (e.g., interest rate changes, major wars) introduces artificial stimulus which may disrupt the naturally occurring financial cycle.
  3. The number “3” appears often in stock market actions and must be held in consideration when making calculations and decisions. For instance, do not enter the market on the third day of a price move.
  4. Watch for significant days in the solar year, specifically December 22, March 21, June 22, and September 21 – and for events exactly 15 days after those dates.
  5. Significant stock market events are also related to specific time numbers which may impact the lunar cycle measurement.
    1. Number of calendar days from a price move: 30, 45, 60, 90, 135, 150, 180, 210, 225, 315, 330 and 360 (calendar days).
    2. Number of trading days from a price move: 11, 22, 33, 45, 56, 67, 78, 90, 101, 112, 123, 135, 146, 157, 168 and 180
    3. Number of weeks between events: 13, 26, 39, 45, 52, 78
    4. Number of months between events: 6, 12, 144

Performance of Gann’s Financial Timetable to date

Still skeptical. Below is a monthly chart (1989 thru 2014) produced by Read the Ticker which charts stock market movements against the Gann Financial Time Table. The blue bar indicates years in which Gann’s chart successfully predicted the movement – an astonishing 85% success rate.

Gann's financial timetable vs. SP 500

Additional information

1909 article about William D. Gann’s method

The following article was published in 1909 in the Ticker and Investment Digest and contains an interview with Gann in which he discussed the numerological methods used in his process.

W.D. Gann

Ticker and Investment Digest, Volume 5, Number 2, December 1909, page 54.

Sometime ago the attention of this magazine was attracted by certain long pull Stock Market predictions which were being made by William D. Gann. In a large number of cases Mr. Gann gave us, in advance, the exact points at which certain stocks and commodities would sell, together with prices close to the then prevailing figures which would not be touched.

For instance, when the New York Central was 131 he predicted that it would sell at 145 before 129. So repeatedly did his figures prove to be accurate, and so different did his work appear from that of any expert whose methods we had examined, that we set about to investigate Mr. Gann and his way of figuring out these predictions, as well as the particular use which he was making of them in the market.

The results of this investigation are remarkable in many ways.

It appears to be a fact Mr. W.D. Gann has developed an entirely new idea as to the principles governing stock market movements. He bases his operations upon certain natural laws which, though existing since the world began, have only in recent years been subjected to the will of man and added to the list of so-called modern discoveries. We have asked Mr. Gann for an outline of his work and have secured some remarkable evidence as to the results obtained therefrom.

We submit this in full recognition of the fact that in Wall Street a man with a new idea, an idea which violates the traditions and encourages a scientific view of the Proposition, is not usually welcomed by the majority, for the reason that he stimulates thought and research. These activities the said majority abhors.

W. D. Gann’s description of his experience and methods is given herewith. It should be read with recognition of the established fact that Mr. Gann’s predictions have proved correct in a large majority of instances.

“For the past ten years I have devoted my entire time and attention to the speculative markets. Like many others, I lost thousands of dollars and experienced the usual ups and downs incidental to the novice who enters the market without preparatory knowledge of the subject.”

“I soon began to realize that all successful men, whether Lawyers, Doctors or Scientists, devoted years of time to the study and investigation of their particular pursuit or profession before attempting to make any money out of it.”

“Being in the Brokerage business myself and handling large accounts, I had opportunities seldom afforded the ordinary man for studying the cause of success and failure in the speculations of others. I found that over ninety percent of the traders who go into the market without knowledge or study usually lose in the end.”

“I soon began to note the periodical recurrence of the rise and fall in stocks and commodities. This led me to conclude that natural law was the basis of market movements. I then decided to devote ten years of my life to the study of natural law as applicable to the speculative markets and to devote my best energies toward making speculation a profitable profession. After exhaustive research and investigations of the known sciences, I discovered that the law of vibration enabled me to accurately determine the exact points at which stocks or commodities should rise and fall within a given time.”

The working out of this law determines the cause and predicts the effect long before the street is aware of either. Most speculators can testify to the fact that it is looking at the effect and ignoring the cause that has produced their losses.

“It is impossible here to give an adequate idea of the law of vibrations as I apply it to the markets. However, the layman may be able to grasp some of the principles when I state that the law of vibration is the fundamental law upon which wireless telegraphy, wireless telephone and phonographs are based. Without the existence of this law the above inventions would have been impossible.”

“In order to test the efficiency of my idea I have not only put in years of labor in the regular way, but I spent nine months working night and day in the Astor Library in New York and in the British Museum of London, going over the records of stock transactions as far back as 1820. I have incidentally examined the manipulations of Jay Gould, Daniel Drew, Commodore Vanderbilt & all other important manipulators from that time to the present day. I have examined every quotation of Union Pacific prior to & from the time of E. H. Harriman, Mr. Harriman’s was the most masterly. The figures show that, whether unconsciously or not, Mr. Harriman worked strictly in accordance with natural law.”

“In going over the history of markets and the great mass of related statistics, it soon becomes apparent that certain laws govern the changes and variations in the value of stocks, and that there exists a periodic or cyclic law which is at the back of all these movements. Observation has shown that there are regular periods of intense activity on the Exchange followed by periods of inactivity.”

Mr. Henry Hall in his recent book devoted much space to “Cycles of Prosperity and Depression,” which he found recurring at regular intervals of time. The law which I have applied will not only give these long cycles or swings, but the daily and even hourly movements of stocks. By knowing the exact vibration of each individual stock, I am able to determine at what point each will receive support and at what point the greatest resistance is to be met.

“Those in close touch with the market have noticed the phenomena of ebb and flow, or rise and fall, in the value of stocks. At certain times a stock will become intensely active, large transactions being made in it; at other times this same stock will become practically stationary or inactive with a very small volume of sales. I have found that the law of vibration governs and controls these conditions. I have also found that certain phases of this law govern the rise in a stock and an entirely different rule operates on the decline.”

“While Union Pacific and other railroad stocks which made their high prices in August were declining, United States Steel Common was steadily advancing. The law of vibration was at work, sending a particular stock on the upward trend whilst others were trending downward.”

“I have found that in the stock itself exists its harmonic or inharmonious relationship to the driving power or force behind it. The secret of all its activity is therefore apparent. By my method I can determine the vibration of each stock and also, by taking certain time values into consideration, I can, in the majority of cases, tell exactly what the stock will do under given conditions.”

“The power to determine the trend of the market is due to my knowledge of the characteristics of each individual stock and a certain grouping of different stocks under their proper rates of vibration. Stocks are like electrons, atoms and molecules, which hold persistently to their own individuality in response to the fundamental law of vibration. Science teaches that ‘an original impulse of any kind finally resolves itself into a periodic or rhythmical motion; also, just as the pendulum returns again in its swing, just as the moon returns in its orbit, just as the advancing year over brings the rose of spring, so do the properties of the elements periodically recur as the weight of the atoms rises.”

“From my extensive investigations, studies and applied tests, I find that not only do the various stocks vibrate, but that the driving forces controlling the stocks are also in a state of vibration. These vibratory forces can only be known by the movements they generate on the stocks and their values in the market. Since all great swings or movements of the market are cyclic, they act in accordance with periodic law.”

“Science has laid down the principle that the properties of an element are a periodic function of its atomic weight. A famous scientist has stated that ‘we are brought to the conviction that diversity in phenomenal nature in its different kingdoms is most intimately associated with numerical relationship. The numbers are not intermixed accidentally but are subject to regular periodicity. The changes and developments are seen to be in many cases as somewhat odd.”

Thus, I affirm every class of phenomena, whether in nature or on the stock market, must be subject to the universal law of causation and harmony. Every effect must have an adequate cause.

“If we wish to avert failure in speculation we must deal with causes. Everything in existence is based on exact proportion and perfect relationship. There is no chance in nature, because mathematical principles of the highest order lie at the foundation of all things. Faraday said, “There is nothing in the universe but mathematical points of force.”

“Vibration is fundamental: nothing is exempt from this law. It is universal, therefore applicable to every class of phenomena on the globe.”

Through the law of vibration every stock in the market moves in its own distinctive sphere of activities, as to intensity, volume and direction; all the essential qualities of its evolution are characterized in its own rate of vibration. Stocks, like atoms, are really centers of energy; therefore, they are controlled mathematically. Stocks create their own field of action and power: power to attract and repel, which principle explains why certain stocks at times lead the market and ‘turn dead’ at other times. Thus, to speculate scientifically it is absolutely necessary to follow natural law.

“After years of patient study I have proven to my entire satisfaction, as well as demonstrated to others, that vibration explains every possible phase and condition of the market.”

In order to substantiate Mr. W. D. Gann’s claims as to what he has been able to do under his method, we called upon Mr. William E. Gilley, an Inspector of Imports, 16 Beaver Street, New York. Mr. Gilley is well known in the downtown district. He himself has studied stock market movements for twenty-five years, during which time he has examined every piece of market literature that has been issued & procurable in Wall Street. It was he who encouraged Mr. Gann to study the scientific and mathematical possibilities of the subject. When asked what had been the most impressive of Mr. Gann’s work and predictions, he replied as follows :

“It is very difficult for me to remember all the predictions and operations of W. D. Gann which may be classed as phenomenal, but the following are a few. “In 1908 when the Union Pacific was 168-1/8, he told me it would not touch 169 before it had a good break. We sold it short all the way down to 152-5/8, covering on the weak spots and putting it out again on the rallies, securing twenty-three points profit out of an eighteen-point market wave.”

“He came to me when United States Steel was selling around 50, and said, “This steel will run up to 58 but it will not sell at 59. From there it should break 16 points.” We sold it short around 58 with a stop at 59. The highest it went was 58. From there it declined to 41-17 points.”

“At another time, wheat was selling at about 89¢. Gann predicted that the May option would sell at $1.35. We bought it and made large profits on the way up. It actually touched $1.35.”

“When Union Pacific was 172, he said it would go to 184-7/8 but not an eighth higher until it had a good break. It went to 184-7/8 and came back from there eight or nine times. We sold it short repeatedly, with a stop at 185, and were never caught. It eventually came back to 17.”

“Mr. Gann’s calculations are based on natural law. I have followed Gann and his work closely for years. I know that he has a firm grasp of the basic principles which govern stock market movements, and I do not believe any other man can duplicate the idea or his method at the present time.”

“Early this year, he figured that the top of the advance would fall on a certain day in August and calculated the prices at which the Dow Jones Averages would then stand. The market culminated on the exact day and within four-tenths of one percent of the figures predicted.”

“You and W D Gann must have cleaned up considerable money on all these operations,” was suggested.

“Yes, we have made a great deal of money. Gann has taken half-million dollars out of the market in the past few years. I once saw him take $130, and in less than one month run it up to over $12,000. Gann can compound money faster than any man I have ever met.”

“One of the most astonishing calculations made by Mr. Gann was during last summer [1909] when he predicted that September Wheat would sell at $1.20. This meant that it must touch that figure before the end of the month of September. At twelve o’clock, Chicago time, on September 30th (the last day) the option was selling below $1.08, and it looked as though his prediction would not be fulfilled. Mr. Gann said, ‘If it does not touch $1.20 by the close of the market it will prove that there is something wrong with my whole method of calculation. I do not care what the price is now, it must go there.’ It is common history that September Wheat surprised the whole country by selling at $1.20 and no higher in the very last hour of trading, closing at that figure.”

So much for what W D Gann has said and done as evidenced by himself & others. Now as to what demonstrations have taken place before our representative :

During the month of October 1909, in twenty-five market days, W D Gann made, in the presence of our representative, two hundred and eighty-six transactions in various stocks, on both the long and short side of the market. Two hundred and sixty-four of these transactions resulted in profits ; twenty-two in losses.

The capital with which he operated was doubled ten times, so that at the end of the month he had one thousand percent of his original margin.

In our presence Mr. William D. Gann sold Steel common short at 94-7/8, saying that it would not go to 95. It did not.

On a drive which occurred during the week ending October 29, Mr. Gann bought U.S. Steel common stock at 86-1/4, saying that it would not go to 86. The lowest it sold was 86-1/3.

We have seen Gann give in one day sixteen successive orders in the same stock, eight of which turned out to be at either the top or the bottom eighth of that particular swing. The above we can positively verify.

Such performances as these, coupled with the foregoing, are probably unparalleled in the history of the Street.

James R. Koene has said, “The man who is right six times out of ten will make a fortune.” Gann is a trader who, without any attempt to make a showing, for he did not know the results were to be published, established a record of over ninety-two percent profitable trades.

Mr. W. D. Gann has refused to disclose his method at any price, but to those scientifically inclined he has unquestionably added to the stock of Wall Street knowledge and pointed out infinite possibilities.

We have requested Mr. Gann to figure out for the readers of the Ticker a few of the most striking indications which appear in his calculations. In presenting these we wish it understood that no man, in or out of Wall Street, is infallible.

William D Gann’s figures at present indicate that the trend of the stock market should, barring the usual rallies, be toward the lower prices until March or April 1910.

He calculates that May Wheat, which is now selling at $1.02, should not sell below 99¢, and should sell at $1.45 next spring.

On Cotton, which is now at about 15¢ level, he estimates that after a good reaction from these prices the commodity should reach 18¢ in the spring of 1910. He looks for a corner in the March or May option.

Whether these figures prove correct or not will in no way detract from the record which W. D. Gann has already established.

William Delbert Gann was born in Lufkin, Texas, and is thirty-one years of age. He is a gifted mathematician, has an extraordinary memory for figures, and is an expert Tape Reader. Take away his science and he would beat the market on his intuitive tape reading alone.

Endowed as he is with such qualities, we have no hesitation in predicting that, within a comparatively few years, William D. Gann will receive recognition as one of Wall Street’s leading operators.

Note: Since the above forecast was made, Cotton has suffered the expected decline, the extreme break having been 120 points. The lowest on May wheat thus far has been $1.01 5/8. It is now selling at $1.06 1/4.

Examples of Gann’s charts

In the pictorial gallery below, are a few of WD Gann’s charts – old and new.

Image Credits

In-Article Image Credits

W.D. Gann via Altered Dimensions
William Delbert Gann via Altered Dimensions
WD Gann Coca Cola chart via Altered Dimensions
WD GANN May Soybeans chart 1948 via Altered Dimensions with usage type - Public Domain
WD Gann DJIA chart via Altered Dimension with usage type - Public Domain
Cover of William D. Gann The Collected Writings of W.D. Gann Volume 1 via Amazon with usage type - Public Domain
W.D. Gann's Timetable Predicts major crash via Reddit by Unknown with usage type - Editorial use (Fair Use)
W.D. Gann Financial Time Table 1909 via Altered Dimensions with usage type - Public Domain
Gann's financial timetable vs. SP 500 via Altered Dimensions

Featured Image Credit

W.D. Gann Financial Time Table 1909 via Altered Dimensions with usage type - Public Domain

 

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