It’s about Time (by Degrees)

Here we are at the first anniversary of the Trading Tutors Newsletter. To celebrate this milestone I thought there would be no more appropriate time, to pen an article on Time by Degrees. We have come a full 360 degrees this week.

W.D.Gann affirmed in his teachings, his belief that the laws of vibration applied to markets. Those that have studied science or have a general interest in science would know that every thing in the universe is constantly vibrating. That includes you, right now, no matter how still you perceive you are. All vibrations have a period of oscillation, which is the time taken to complete one full cycle. Cycles can range in size from a fraction of a second to hundreds of years and more.

All cycles can be represented as a circle and all circles no matter how large or small are made up of 360 degrees. The Gann Emblem is a circle, containing a square and a triangle. The square divides the circle into four equal sections, each of 90 degrees. The triangle divides the circle into three equal sections, each of 120 degrees.

The main cycle that relates to Time by Degrees is a year. Everyone would be aware that one year, is the time taken for the earth to do one lap around the sun. This is considered one complete cycle. By overlaying the cycle of a year around the circle, the dates corresponding to where the square and the triangle intersect with the circle are key pressure dates. The vital key to success with laying out the year in a circle is to get the right starting point. Full discussions, on the ways this can be achieved are well beyond the scope of this article.

The example I have for you, to show the power of Time by Degrees, relates to the market action on the SPI during 2000 into 2001. In Chart 1 you have the weekly bar chart of the SPI for this period. In this instance the 22 March 2000 high of 3297 is being used as the starting point on the Gann Emblem.

Running around the circle 180 degrees gives you 21 September 2000, as you can see the market made a significant spike low on 22 September 2000, one day off a direct hit. Running around the circle a further 90 degrees from 21 September gives us 21 December 2000. Once again this was a direct hit for another spike low. Progressing a further 90 degrees around the circle takes us back to the start of the cycle, giving us 23 March 2001. This was another direct hit and by now those in the know were red hot on this cycle. It is well worth noting that the range from top to bottom for all three dates was exactly 228 points. Find that hard to believe? It’s true - check it out. Finally, continuing around the circle another 180 degrees (now a total of 540 degrees) gives us 24 September 2001 as a date to watch. As you can see by studying the chart, the low following the drama of 11 September 2001, came in exactly on this date!

Here I am just trying to give you a fundamental understanding of the concept of Time by Degrees and it’s application to the Gann Emblem. Aaron Lynch and I have just finished the first round of Gann Mastery Seminars, which included Sydney and Melbourne. These seminars proved to be an overwhelming success and left us with no doubt our Video Series students are our most successful traders. It is at this seminar that we run a full lesson on the Time by Degrees and use it as part of our forecast.

Time by Degrees was David Bowden’s favourite and most profitable tool. All budding Gann Traders should have it in their plans to one day make Time by Degrees a part of their trading plan. I know that it has been a valuable addition for me.

Until next week......

Noel Campbell