A Summary of Forecasts by the Great
William D. Gann Including The Ticker, The September Wheat Trade & More

W. D. Gann is certainly the most famous and successful financial market forecaster in known history.

Beginning with his interview in The Ticker & Investment Digest, where he produced a 92% success rate, and gave numerous very specific forecasts, Gann spent decades producing Annual Forecasts.

Some of his specific forecasts that were documented by the auditor from the Ticker Interview follow below, but we strongly encourage all interested parties to read the entire interview in order to see what is possible within this field:

Gann’s Ticker Forecast

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 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.

In order to substantiate Mr. Gann’s claims as to what he has been able to do under this 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 and procurable in Wall Street. It was he who encouraged Mr. Gann to study out 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 Mr. Gann which may be classed as phenomenal, but the following are a few: In 1908 when Union Pacific was 168-¹⁄₈, he told me that 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 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 16-³⁄₄ points. ‘We sold it short around 58-³⁄₄ with a stop at 59. The highest it went was 58 ³⁄₄. From there it declined to 41 ¹⁄₄ - 17 ¹⁄₂ points.

“At another time wheat was selling at about 89 cents. He predicted that the May option would sell at $1.35. We bought it and made large profits on the way up. It actually touched $1.35-¹⁄₂.

“When Union Pacific as 172, he said it would go to 187 ⁷⁄₈ but not an eighth higher until it had 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 172-¹⁄₂.

“You and Mr. Gann must have cleaned up considerable money on all these operations,” we suggested.

“Yes, we have made a great deal of money. He has taken half a 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. He can compound money faster than any man I ever met.”

The September Wheat Trade of 1909

“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 the trading, closing at that figure.”

W.D. Gann’s September Wheat trade. One of his greatest on record.

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

“During the month of October, 1909, in twenty-five market days, Mr. 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 per cent on his original margin.

“In our presence Mr. 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 Steel common at 86-¹⁄₄, saying that it would not go to 86. The lowest it sold was 86-¹⁄₈.

“We have seen him give in one day sixteen successive orders in the same stock, eight of which turned out to beat 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.

Gann’s Dow Jones Forecast: 1919–1926

The following chart shows a comparison between W. D. Gann’s forecast from 1919 through 1926 and the Down Jones 20 Industrials which are shown by the harder to see dotted line plotted above the forecast.

W.D. Gann’s Dow Jones Forecast, 1919–26.

Below is a redrawn version of the same chart where the upper line has been drawn in more darkly so that you can make a better comparison.

A contemporary rendering of W.D. Gann’s Dow Jones Forecast, 1919–26.

You will notice the general pattern and extremes of the intermediate and major swings are the most exact, which some of the smaller swings will tend to have more distortion. This is because it is easier to forecast larger moves and swings, whereas there is more noise on the shorter term scale. This is one clear reason that Gann, Baumring and most serious market forecasters recommend intermediate term trading over shorter term trading and day trading, because the analytical tools are much more exact.

Gann’s 1929 Forecasts

Next, an image of the cover page of Gann’s forecast for the 1929 stock market with his general swing forecast for the year of 1929. Click here to read Gann’s full 16 page Outlook for 1929.

Gann’s forecast for the 1929 stock market from his “Supply & Demand” newsletter.

These above selections should be sufficient to give a general sense of Gann’s forecasting ability.

From the 1909 Ticker Interview, Gann continued his forecasting career for 45 years until his death in 1954 leaving a long record of yearly forecasts, books and courses. For a detailed history of his work and influence see our article W.D. Gann & the Law of Vibration. For more information see our collection of Gann’s books, courses, writings, and commentaries.

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