Who is David Bowden?
Trader, Educator, Market Forecaster and
Car Enthusiast
David began his illustrious career as a trader and market analyst in 1985 and by the time he started giving seminars in 1988 he had established an impressive track record with his trading. Indeed, colleagues and associates had witnessed his ability to nominate exact dates in advance of the market’s turning points – an ability that seemed to defy logic; a consistency that could not be due to chance.
But how did David find himself as a trader and then later a market educator? He wasn’t born into wealth, nor was he some Wall Street Insider with a team of experts at his fingertips. No, David was just like you – a hardworking individual, living a comfortable life making his living in real estate on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia.
It was here that he began to recognise the cyclical nature of the real estate market.
Yet as many of us know, life can change in an instant.
For David, that moment came when a sudden change in tax laws turned his world upside down. After paying the tax he believed he owed, a retrospective change in the tax laws found him owing over a quarter of a million dollars!
Imagine the panic – you’ve worked hard to provide for your family only to watch things slip through your fingers. David was facing near bankruptcy.
He was at a crossroads – do nothing and lose everything, or find a way to rebuild his life. And in that moment of crisis, he made a decision that would change his life forever.
Reading the newspaper one day, David stumbled across the name WD Gann – a legendary trader rumoured to have made $50 million in the 1940s, which would be over a billion dollars in today’s money.
These sums of money piqued Davids interest, particularly with the current financial pressure he was facing!
David made a point of getting all of Gann’s courses that he could and set about studying them.
But Gann’s methods and lessons weren’t easy. They were complex – incredibly complex. He used a combination of astrology, geometry, and mathematics to predict market moves. For most people, it was like trying to read a foreign language – practically impossible to understand.
Twelve months in advance…
David called the actual day of the share market top for 1987 and the subsequent low on 10 February, 1988, with his students buying shares at the bottom when everyone else was too afraid!
But here’s where David was different.
While others looked at Gann’s work and gave up, David was determined to crack the code. As far as he was concerned, he didn’t have a choice – his financial future was at stake. He spent all of his available time studying Gann’s techniques – pouring over every pattern, every cycle, every nuance.
David was relentless. He faced setbacks, confusion, frustration, but he refused to give up. Failure wasn’t an option.
For 1989 he was one day out.
He nominated 3 October as the day of the top, with panic and reversal to follow.
(It actually came in on the morning of October 4)
His background in business, coupled with his deep understanding of market cycles, led him to create methods that blended practicality with the precision of W.D. Gann’s time and price theories.
And after years of dedication and hard work, David finally cracked the code.
David almost unintentionally, began to become recognised as the worldwide leader on Gann Techniques.
He didn’t just figure out how to use Gann’s theories – he simplified them, creating a system anyone could follow. A system that would allow him to predict market shifts with an almost eerie level of accuracy.
Based on his deep understanding of Gann’s work and some of his own innovations, David was able to predict major market tops and bottoms up to 12 months in advance with precision.
Many of these predictions were published months in advance, like the 1989 low in the Australian stock market – colleagues and sceptics alike watched on as almost miraculously, the market reached the precise low at the date, time and price exactly as he predicted – he was one minute out.
But perhaps the most talked about of David’s forecast dates is January 16 1991, the start of the Gulf War. He had nominated this date for a major change in trend for stock markets around the world in March 1990, which was later verified by the Business Review Weekly.
But David wasn’t just an analyst, able to predict the markets movements, he was also a skillful trader. During one of his courses you’ll hear him tell the story of how he made $150,000 in the week coming into the 10 February 1988 low and bought his house from the profits of that run.
Other traders on the Gold Coast were very interested in what he was doing and eager to learn more. Ultimately, David decided to start to document his methods as the constant questions from other traders were beginning to impact his own time to trade. And from here, Safety in the Market was born.
With Safety in the Market, David was to embrace his true calling, to empower everyday traders with the knowledge and skills they need to not only survive, but thrive in the markets. His vision was to create a company dedicated to helping students maximise profits while trading safely. Today, some 35 years after it’s inception, Safety in the Market continues to teach students worldwide and David’s vision and trading legacy continues to inspire our team and students alike.
In the year 2000, David retired due to health issues, allowing him to spend more time enjoying his passion for motorsports and collecting rare and irreplaceable pieces of Australia’s motor racing history.
His private collection contains some of Australia’s most famous muscle cars, which he and his team have lovingly restored over the years – a passion he was able to pursue thanks to his success as a trader.
Interested to learn more? Find out how our traders are able to predict market tops and bottoms through the Secrets of Price Forecasting.