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Use All The Tools, All The Time (W.D. Gann)

In the late 1980s, I wrote a home study trading course called, The W. D. Gann Home Study Trading Course. It was based on you guessed it the trading techniques of W. D. Gann plus dynamic time and price and Elliott Wave. (The course is no longer available.)

I learned many lessons from studying Ganns published materials over the years and I think his general market wisdom was much more important than his technical studies. One of my favorite lessons was Use All The Tools, All The Time. That doesnt mean to over complicate the technical studies or use too many tools but apply all of your key tools with each market condition to discover if there is a high probability trade opportunity.

For instance, the time, price and pattern position may indicate a market should begin to trend and the market makes a break above a swing high a bullish continuation signal. Is it time to go long? Most swing traders would say yes. Maybe. Maybe not. Some of the tools (technical conditions) may suggest so but all may not. What if the breakout to a new high is accompanied by an overbought momentum position which suggests the upside has very limited potential before a momentum high is complete? In that case, it would not be wise to buy the breakout.

The video tutorial I just posted on the password protected book owners pages shows an example of this very situation. If you are a book owner, check it out. As you know, the password is in the book. Remember, do not get too excited about a possible trade setup unless all the key tools are indicating the same thing. Put the odds on your side and use all the tools, all the time.

9 Comments

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April 19th, 2009 at 11:26 pm

I bought the book after reading several favorable reviews on Amazon. I just received it two days ago so I havent had time to really study it in depth. My initial impression is quite favorable and I think it would be especially helpful to beginning traders. One thought I had as I was viewing the trading examples dealing with managing some live trades was the utility of being able to manage my own trades on a practice platform. The protective stops, trailing stops, exit strategies, two lot trading all could help a new trader from equity crash if the principles are understood and practiced enough to be used in a live-fire environment.

I recently bought your book, which I believe is of great value. I also read all the comments being posted by other book owners. There is a subscriber by the name John f. who mentioned you have an excel risk and position sizing calculator. Will you be sending it to each of us by e-mail, or will you be posting it within your website?

You had mentioned back on February 09 you will be making it available on your website. I believe it will add great value towards the study of your book and help us understand the important concept of Money Risk Management. I look forward to hearing from you soon.