📖William Gann

Expand Knowledge Gradually

🌱 Beginner★★★★☆

Expand expertise gradually, one area at a time.

💬

Expand your circle of competence gradually over time. Each new area of expertise adds potential opportunities, but only if mastered thoroughly.

— 45 Years in Wall Street,1949

🏠 Everyday Analogy

Market cycles resemble seasons: planting, growth, harvest, and winter. Using one strategy in every season leads to repeated mistakes.

📖 Core Interpretation

W.D. Gann sees markets as cyclical rather than linear. Understanding cycle position improves risk-taking decisions more than trying to call exact tops and bottoms.
💎 Key Insight:Steady learning expands opportunity without increasing risk.

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❓ Why It Matters

Ignoring cycles repeats the same mistakes: excessive optimism at peaks and excessive pessimism near troughs. Context matters for position sizing.

🎯 How to Practice

Monitor credit, valuation, earnings, and sentiment signals; reduce aggressiveness in euphoric phases and preserve flexibility in fearful phases.

⚠️ Common Pitfalls

Treating short rebounds as full cycle turns
Extrapolating peak conditions indefinitely
Becoming maximally defensive near valuation troughs

📚 Case Studies

1
Pre-Crash Speculation in U.S. Equities (1929)
A trader buys stocks on margin in mid-1929, ignoring Gann’s rules on overtrading, trend analysis, and protective stops.
✨ Outcome:Severe losses in the October crash; portfolio wiped out due to no stop-loss and failure to follow trend-reversal signals.
2
Crash of 1983—87 Bull Market Reversal (1987)
An investor rides the strong 1980s bull market, but unlike peers, applies Gann’s rules: pyramids cautiously, sets stops, and watches time and price cycles.
✨ Outcome:Capital mostly preserved in October 1987 crash; limited drawdowns and quick recovery enabled by disciplined exits.

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