In 1998, Dan Zanger was a swimming pool contractor struggling to make ends meet.
Less than 2 years later, he had turned his $10,000 savings into $18 Million by trading stocks on his own.
So how did a man with no Wall Street expertise turn a small investment into a life-changing fortune?
Zanger’s Unlikely Beginning
Prior to the epic stock market run in 1999-2000 Dan Zanger was running around town installing swimming pools and trading stocks from his car phone during breaks. He used a mobile stock quote machine and experienced mixed results in the stock market.
Zanger studied the trading methods of Stock Market Wizard William O’Neil, and was able to put it all together just in time for the dot com run of 1999.
Zanger used a momentum trading strategy that utilized stock chart patterns for buy and sell signals. This method of using chart patterns is often referred to as technical analysis.
Conventional market wisdom is to buy low and sell high. Zanger, influenced by O’Neil (Author of the stock market classic: “How To Make Money In Stocks”), adopted the mantra of buy high, sell higher.
Zanger’s Secret Sauce
Zanger’s method could most easily be summarized by these 4 steps:
- Identify the most powerful stocks moving up in price
- Look for a consolidation in price or classical chart pattern
- Buy the stock as its price breaks to new highs on increased trading volume
- Sell the stock when the momentum finally changes or sell as the price moves up
While this sounds very simple, Zanger’s accomplishment is clearly one of the most impressive feats in stock market history.
Buying at the right time and holding through volatile price swings takes immense discipline and courage. Knowing when to cut losing trades is also a key trait shared by great traders.
When the dot com craze hit in 1999, Zanger’s aggressive trading style was perfect for capitalizing on the bull run.
He would concentrate his portfolio in one or two stocks at a time, buy on the breakout and ride the stock as high as he could. His account quickly compounded. When it was all said and done, Zanger’s account saw a record-breaking 29,000% return.
Zanger was able to retire from his job installing swimming pools and trade full time.
Zanger’s Favorite Chart Patterns
Dan’s favorite chart patterns included patterns popularized by William O’Neil. The patterns included:
- Cup with Handle
- High Tight Flag
- Bull Flag
- Ascending Triangle
You can read more about these patterns in William O’Neil’s classic, How To Make Money In Stocks. Zanger also has an education section on his website chartpattern.com
What Is Zanger Doing Now?
Dan Zanger has continued to find success in the stock market and runs a stock trading service on his website, chartpattern.com
He sends a bi-weekly newsletter with buy and sell recommendations and a chat room educating traders on his methods.
Some of Zanger’s students have gone on to achieve their own impressive results. Ryan Pierpont competed in the US Investing Championship in back to back years and recorded an unheard of 1500% return in 2 years.
Pierpont credits Zanger with “teaching him how to fish” through his newsletters and chat service.
Anything Is Possible
Dan Zanger’s story is not just about trading. It’s a testament to what is possible through discipline and willingness to take chances. Zanger’s success started with a belief that anything is possible and guess what?
It is.
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