Martin Zweig, stock guru who predicted 1987 crash, dies at 70

NEW YORK (REUTERS) - Mr Martin Zweig, a market commentator and fund manager who predicted the 1987 stock market crash, died on Monday, according to his investment firm. He was 70.

Mr Zweig predicted the "Black Monday" stock market crash of 1987 on television show Wall Street Week on PBS. The 1987 crash was the biggest one-day market decline in history, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 22.6 per cent.

No cause of death was given.

Mr Zweig gave his memorable forecast on Oct 16, 1987, three days before the notorious market crash. He was a regular guest on the show. "I haven't been looking for a bear market per se. I've been really in my own mind looking for a crash," he said on the television programme.

Mr Zweig co-founded hedge fund Zweig-DiMenna Partners in 1984 with Mr Joe DiMenna, according to a release from his New-York based firm, Zweig-Dimenna Associates. He also launched two closed-end funds, the Zweig Fund in 1986 and the Zweig Total Return Fund in 1988.

Mr Zweig wrote investment newsletters while working as a professor of finance, according to the release. His newsletter, the Zweig Forecast, was published for 26 years between 1971 and 1997. He also wrote two books, Winning On Wall Street in 1986 and Winning With New IRAs in 1987.

"He was a true market seer," said Mr Douglas Kass, founder of hedge fund Seabreeze Partners Management in Palm Beach, Florida.

Mr Zweig was born on July 2, 1942 in Cleveland, Ohio. He is survived by his wife Barbara and sons Zack and Alex, the release said.

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