Watch Martin Zweig Predict A Market Crash The Friday Before 'Black Monday'
Here's an amazing video from that time.
Martin Zweig, the legendary Wall Street analyst who passed away in February 2013, appeared on Louis Rukeyser's PBS show "Wall Street Week" on Friday, October 16, 1987.
On the show, Zweig said he wasn't just looking for a typical prolonged sell off.
"I haven't been looking for a bear market, per se," Zweig said. "I've been really, in my own mind, looking for a crash."
The next trading day was what became known as "Black Monday," the day the Dow fell more than 22% in its single worst day ever.
"I didn't want to talk about it publicly," Zweig added, "because it's like shouting 'fire!' in a crowded theater and there are other ways to play it."
Amid recent market volatility, some have compared the current environment to what was seen ahead of the 1987 crash, as the economy doesn't appear headed for a imminent recession, but the bull market seems to be a bit tired.
And in 1987, in spite of the sharp sell off, the economy did avoid recession and the market finished the year flat.
The whole video from Rukeyser's show that week is available on YouTube in three parts, and the whole thing is worth watching, not just for a glimpse of what people were saying on the cusp of a historic event, but how so much discussion surrounding the stock market seems to hardly ever change.
Rukeyser opened the show with a monologue that talked about concerns in the Persian Gulf, dysfunction in Washington, D.C., a recent round of layoffs at several Wall Street firms, and computerized trading weighing on the market.
Sound familiar?
Here's the first part of Rukeyser's show below, with Zweig's comments starting at around the 6:40 mark.
A truly legendary call.