He has no professional background, only a high school education.

As a typical technical trader, he made over $18,000,000 in just two years with only $10,775, achieving a return rate of 29,233%. In three years, his capital grew 1,640 times to $42,000,000, setting a personal record for portfolio growth.

He is Dan Zanger, an outstanding trader and chart analyst who is still active in the trading and investment field. He regularly posts chart analyses on his personal social media accounts.

Dan Zanger entered the stock market in 1976 and spent several years in the market. At that time, he was mainly focused on his pool construction business, but he knew that trading stocks was his true passion. He learned various chart patterns and fundamental knowledge from charting master Gene Morgan and investment master William O'Neil. However, he later developed his own set of methods and decided to devote more time to trading stocks in 1989, taking 10 years to refine his "trading edge."

As the 1997 Internet bubble began to form, internet and technology stocks became the focus. In order to raise funds to enter the market, Dan Zanger sold his Porsche. He sold it for less than $11,000 and turned it into $18,000,000 the following year. This success led him to quit his job as a contractor and become a full-time trader.

1. $42 Million in 3 Years! What Are His Trading Techniques?

In 1989, he spent at least 6 hours every weekend looking at charts until he found a satisfactory one. From 1991 to 1997, during the real estate bear market, his construction business faced a bottleneck, so he spent even more time studying chart patterns. This allowed him to make $18,000,000 with just $10,775 from 1998 to 1999.

By 2000, his cumulative trading profits reached $42,000,000.

Dan Zanger is a pure technical analyst who has spent over 30,000 hours studying various chart patterns and their application in different situations and scenarios. He is a swing trader who focuses on momentum breakout patterns with holding periods ranging from weeks to years.

For the past 20 years, he has been using the same chart pattern setups. The chart patterns outlined by Dan Zanger include common 11 price chart patterns, which he frequently uses for profitable trades. These patterns include cup and handle patterns, flag patterns, triangle flag patterns, triangle patterns, head and shoulders patterns, and channels, among others.

Even in the era of quantitative trading systems, EAs, and algorithms, these chart patterns continue to demonstrate surprising levels of success and repetition. Classic chart patterns are easiest to identify after they have formed, rather than oversimplifying them. The key is to identify them in the early stages of formation, so that you can capture more opportunities before they become "textbook" examples.

2. Dan Zanger's Ten Golden Trading Rules

Trading masters become masters not only because of their own luck, but also because they are good at summarizing their experiences and insights. Therefore, we believe it is important to share some investment insights from Dan Zanger, as it can help us avoid many pitfalls on our trading journey. These investment insights will also deepen your understanding and improve your confidence and abilities in trading.

Let's take a look at Dan Zanger's ten golden trading rules that he has summarized over the years:

1. Before considering entering a trade, ensure that the stock has a solid foundation support or chart pattern.

2. Buy when the stock price crosses the trend line of the foundation support or pattern, and ensure that the volume is higher than the recent trend shortly after the "breakout" occurs. Never chase the stock by buying after it has exceeded the trend line by more than 5%. You should also be aware of the 30-day moving average volume of the stock you are interested in.

3. If your stock retraces below the trend line or breakout point, sell quickly. Typically, the stop loss point should be set around $1 below the breakout point. The more expensive the stock, the more room you should give it for a pullback, but the stop loss amount should never exceed $2. Some people use a 5% stop loss rule, which may mean selling a stock attempting to break out if it falls below your entry price within 20 minutes or 3 hours.

4. Sell 20%-30% of your position when the stock price rises 15%-20% from the breakout point.

5. Hold the strongest stocks for the longest time and sell quickly when they stop rising or show weakening trends. Remember, stocks are only good when they are rising.

6. Identify and track strong stock sectors, and try to choose stocks from these sectors as much as possible.

7. After a significant market rally, your stocks will be susceptible to selling pressure, which can happen at an incredible speed. Learn to set new higher trend lines and identify reversal patterns to help you sell stocks.

8. Remember, stocks need volume to rise, so start understanding the volume of your stocks and observe how they react when volume surges. You can see these peaks on any chart, and volume is crucial to the success or failure of your stock's trend.

9. Dan Zanger mentions many entry points for stocks in his social media or personal columns. However, just because an entry point is mentioned does not mean you should buy directly when it is triggered. You must first look at the stock's trend, combine it with the volume on the day the entry point is triggered, closely monitor the overall market environment, and then consider whether to buy.

10. Never engage in margin trading unless you have a good grasp of the market, charts, and your emotions. Margin trading can wipe you out.