William Gann: a trader who was helped to make money by mysticism
William Gann is an outstanding American financier and an example of the fact that you do not have to be born into a wealthy family to succeed. You can achieve anything if you have a strong will and determination.
Born in 1878 to a Texas farmer’s family, William was the first of 11 children. From an early age, the boy helped his parents, while attending school, which was located 11 kilometers from the farm. Gann’s family was poor, and in order to earn money, William had to leave school at age 16. For 6 years, until 1901, the young man went through a huge number of jobs, he toiled in a warehouse, sold newspapers on the trains, and did many other things.
However, luck smiled on William, and at the age of 23, he got a job with a brokerage firm as a clerk. Now the young man had a stable job, he didn’t have to physically work day and night, and he decided to take up education. After office hours in the evenings, William attended business school and soaked up knowledge like a sponge. The firm’s managers noticed the young man’s efforts, and within a year, Gann began to make his own deals. Having gained experience, William realized that in Texas he would not be able to achieve the high goals he set for himself, and in 1903 he went to New York.
It was very hard to break through in a city with enormous competition, and it took Gann several years to get a good job. However, William’s new passion for the ancient cultures of Egypt and Greece helped him not to give up. The trader was interested in the mathematics of the time and studied the calculations of ancient scientists. It’s hard to know how much such a hobby helped in his work, but by 1907 fortune smiled on Gann and he made some big deals.
William became that lucky man who was able to use the crisis in the stock market to his advantage. In just a few months, the initial capital of 300 dollars grew to 25 thousand, and a little later, 130 dollars he turned into 12 thousand. Thus, Gann’s fortune amounted to $37,000, which at the time was estimated at one million dollars today. These transactions brought the trader fame and allowed him to open his own firm, WDGann & Co.
Two years later, in 1908, the world saw William’s first book, in which he shared his experience and vision of trading. In Gann’s opinion, it is not enough just to understand the processes at the stock exchange, it is important to be able to foresee them. And for this, the trader uses ancient knowledge. In addition, Gann was a member of the Masonic lodge, which combined with a passion for antiquity formed an image of mystery around him. And William really believed in mysticism. It’s hard to say whether it worked, but once in 25 days, the trader closed 286 deals, and 264 of them brought good profits.
