Summary
Phil Anderson introduces new students to Gann’s body of work, recommending Truth of the Stock Tape (1923) as the entry point, with particular emphasis on Chapter IV (‘Your Weak Points’) and the need to eliminate hope and fear from trading decisions. The email uses Anderson’s personal experience visiting a Jakarta hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic as a real-world illustration of how media framing manufactures emotion that distorts an investor’s perception of reality — directly paralleling Gann’s own warnings about newspapers serving insider interests rather than the reader’s needs.
Key Claims
- Gann’s first book Truth of the Stock Tape (1923) is the recommended starting point for students, ahead of his work on Time — confidence: high
- Gann maintained hand-drawn daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly charts of approximately 700 NYSE-listed stocks, assisted by a small staff — confidence: high
- Gann is credited as the first person to construct sector indices (e.g. airlines, motor vehicles) — confidence: medium (Anderson states he has seen the charts; independent corroboration not provided)
- Anderson came to Gann’s work via real estate, which he states is unique among Gann students to his knowledge — confidence: medium
- Gann’s 1929 market forecast (sent to subscribers November 1928) is reproduced in the posthumously published combined edition of Truth of the Stock Tape and Wall Street Stock Selector, available from Lambert-Gann — confidence: high
- Stop-loss orders placed at the time of entry are Gann’s prescribed protection against wrong judgement — confidence: high
- Media coverage of COVID-19 in Indonesia (and broadly) is characterised as emotionally manipulated and materially overstated relative to Anderson’s direct observation — confidence: low (personal/anecdotal; not independently verifiable)
- Indonesia’s public hospital strain is attributed partly to chronic underfunding driven by wealth concentration in land values rather than a genuine capacity crisis — confidence: low (Anderson’s interpretation)
- The first radio broadcast station began broadcasting 2 November 1920, contextualising Gann’s 1923 media commentary — confidence: high
Mex Pete References
None.
Stock Picks / Signals
None.
Predictions / Forecasts
None.
Notable Quotes
“These weak points must be overcome. You must learn to trade so that there will be no hope and no fear when you enter the market. You enter it as the result of deliberation and upon what you believe to be the proper basis for buying and selling. But you must remember that you can be wrong and that the way to protect yourself against wrong judgement is to place a stoploss order at the time you make the trade.” — WD Gann, Truth of the Stock Tape, p. 21
“The newspapers tell you what insiders want you to know, not what you need to know.” — WD Gann, Truth of the Stock Tape, p. 43