Enter a base price and an angle step, and you get a level table sorted from the highest price down with the anchor in the middle. The tool shows levels and nothing else: no entries, no targets, no stops, and that is a commitment with no exceptions.
What the Square of Nine is and how it is built
The Square of Nine is a spiral grid beginning with 1 in the centre cell and winding outward. What defines its structure is that the squares of whole numbers land on its diagonals: Hubb documentation notes that the squares of odd numbers 1, 3, 5 and 7 proceed along a 45-degree diagonal, while the squares of even numbers run in the opposite direction. The other name Hubb gives the tool is a square root calculator, which describes what it does more precisely than its usual name.
From the grid to the formula
There is no need to draw the grid at all. A square root and an angle are enough: take the square root of the price, add the angle divided by 180, then square the result. Every 180 degrees adds 1 to the root, and a full 360-degree revolution adds 2. This matches Hubb wording that the point on the opposite side of the square is the 180 target and that one full revolution gives the 360 target. We found no acceptable source using a divisor of 360; every explicit formula we located uses 180.
Worked example: a base price of 100
Take a base price of 100 with a multiplier of 1, a 45-degree step and eight levels. The square root is exactly 10. At 45 degrees the root becomes 10.25 and the level 105.0625. At 180 degrees the root becomes 11 and the level 121, which is 11 squared. At 360 degrees the root becomes 12 and the level 144, which is 12 squared. That makes a clean sanity check: if the full-revolution level is not a perfect square when the root is a whole number, something is wrong.
Why currency pairs need a multiplier
The formula was built for whole-number prices, which is why it collapses on currency pairs without scaling. Take EUR/USD at 1.08500 with a multiplier of 1: the root is 1.041633 and the first resistance at 45 degrees comes out at 1.66832, roughly 53.8% away from the price. That is a meaningless figure in practice. Now the same formula with a multiplier of 10000: the scaled price is 10,850, the root is 104.163333 and the first resistance is 1.09021, about half a percent away. That is precisely why the multiplier field exists.
Worked example: gold
Gold needs no scaling because its price is already large. Take a base price of 2,341.70 with a multiplier of 1 and a 45-degree step. The square root is 48.391115. The first resistance at 45 degrees is 2,365.96 and the first support 2,317.57, roughly one percent either way. At 180 degrees the resistance becomes 2,439.48 and the support 2,245.92. Note that the levels are not symmetric around the price: the distance upward is slightly larger than the distance downward, a direct consequence of squaring the root.
The angles and what each one means
The default angles shown are 45, 90, 135, 180, 225, 270, 315 and 360, which Hubb calls the important degree intervals found on the classic Gann emblem. The same source notes you may add the other available levels, namely 120, 144, 216 and 240. The TradeStation code published in Traders Tips in 2004 names the angles from zero through 315 the same way. The field here accepts any step between 1 and 180 degrees, so you can reproduce any of these conventions.
Price versus time
The same method applies to time and not only to price. Optuma documents a display switch that moves the tool between price and date, and MetaQuotes notes that time squaring and time cycles are key concepts in Gann theory, with major turns possibly falling at intervals that are squares of whole numbers such as 4, 9, 16 and 25. A full 360-degree revolution corresponds to roughly 365 calendar days. But we found no explicit algebraic formula for the time application in any acceptable source, so this version implements the price application alone. Implementing it without a published formula would mean inventing one.
What these levels do not say
What these levels do not say matters more than what they do. They give no direction, no timing and no position size. MetaQuotes own documentation states that interpretation of Square of Nine signals remains largely subjective and requires experience, and Optuma notes that Gann never revealed where the ideas behind the chart came from. During our research we found that other calculators issue entry points, targets and stop losses, some with no risk warning anywhere near them. This calculator shows the levels alone, and that is a commitment with no exceptions.
Common mistakes
Four mistakes recur. The first is using a fractional price without scaling, which pushes levels tens of percent away as we saw. The second is confusing the angle step with the amount added to the root: the step is in degrees, and the addition is the step divided by 180. The third is assuming a level will necessarily halt price; a level is the output of a formula, not a barrier. The fourth is passing a full revolution without noticing, since levels beyond 360 degrees enter a second turn and sit far from price — the calculator flags this for you.
Frequently asked questions
Why do I need a price multiplier for currency pairs?
Because the formula works on a square root, and its behaviour depends on the size of the number. The square root of 1.08500 is about 1.0416, and adding 0.25 lifts the level to 1.66832 — roughly 53.8% away from price. The square root of 10850 is about 104.16, and adding 0.25 gives a level about half a percent away, which is a realistic distance. The method was built for whole-number prices like those of shares and commodities.
Which step is correct: 45 degrees or 11.25?
Published sources disagree. The same *Technical Analysis of Stocks & Commodities* article prints two code samples side by side: one with an increment of 0.25, which equals 45 degrees, and one with 0.0625, which equals 11.25 degrees. We did not pick a winner. Instead the step is a field in degrees, so you can produce either convention. The default is 45 because it is the most common in platform documentation.
Why does this calculator not show entry points and targets like others do?
Because that goes beyond what the formula does. The formula outputs price levels; it contains no logic about when to enter, where to exit or how much to risk. Calculators that add those columns attach a decision to a calculation that does not include one. Our site does not publish trading recommendations, and that policy has no exceptions.
What is the difference between applying the Square of Nine to price and to time?
In the price application you enter a base price and derive price levels. In the time application you enter a base date or bar number and derive dates, with a full 360-degree revolution corresponding to roughly 365 days. Optuma’s platform documentation names the switch between the two modes explicitly. This version implements the price application only, because we found no published algebraic formula for the time application in any acceptable source, and we do not invent formulas.
Why do some support levels disappear?
Because the formula subtracts an amount from the square root, and once the subtraction reaches the whole root the result becomes zero or negative and no longer represents a price. This happens when the base price is small or the level count is large. The fix is to raise the price multiplier, reduce the level count, or use a smaller angle step.
Are Gann levels fixed rules the market follows?
No. MetaQuotes’ own documentation states that interpreting Square of Nine signals remains largely subjective despite its mathematical basis, and Optuma’s knowledge base notes that Gann never revealed where the ideas behind the chart came from. The levels here are the output of a formula applied to a price you entered — not a market rule and not a forecast. How you read them stays a personal judgment inside a written risk plan.