Fibonacci and Gann Applications in Financial Markets

George A. MacLean

John Wiley & Sons Ltd.  ISBN –13 978-0-470-01217-8 (HB)

This is a serious book about Technical Analysis.

It is more than the practical and thorough work you would expect.  Personal experience and consequent clear strong views form the foundations that build into an elegant and utilitarian appreciation of the whole of our field.

Fibonacci, of course, is explained and applications examined.  During that examination, a rigorous process, their relevance is put into a context of overall analysis.  It brings a sense of proportion to Fibonacci studies lacking in many texts.  Complexity is not shunned and some may find the deep and detailed argument demanding at times. (There is, however, a summary at the end of each section, which will also be useful when researching or revising).

In the middle of the Fibonacci sections comes a chapter entitled “Charting Difficulties: A Historical Perspective”.   It is deftly placed linking the opening studies with following chapters that deal with common errors in retracements and extentions, in fanlines and in timelines.  Such construction, the insertion of a contrasting topic that supplements the whole, is elegant and pleasing.  It is also rare that style in the writing of Technical Analysis deserves praise.

“Total Analysis – Pulling All the Skills and Techniques Together” follows.  It should be required reading for all TAs.  Diploma students especially will be directed to it.  The Author emphasises an important aspect of TA; the science may be learned from theory but that vital interpretive art can only develop from experience.

The author openly states that he is a great fan of Gann analysis and has used it successfully.  He makes an admirable case.  In fact he points out a deficiency in thorough research that applies to many analysts including this reviewer!

The book is a serious work.  The penultimate chapter is titled “Other Interesting Studies Using Synthetic Ratios” and should you think it a dry and abstruse subject you would be horribly wrong.  Albeit that a section is called “The Pythagorean, Platonic and Neo-Platonic View of Proportion and Harmony”, don’t make the mistake of thinking the book is too deep for you.  It is a book for those who perceive that there is much, much more to Technical Analysis than the propagation of signals.