Market timer, newsletter writer and author
Martin Zweig
Martin Zweig (1942–2013) was an American investor and newsletter writer with a PhD in finance from Michigan State University (1969), who also wrote for Barron's. He wrote Winning on Wall Street (1986) and was a regular guest on PBS's Wall $treet Week. At his death he was chairman of Zweig-DiMenna Associates.
What they argue
- A simple trend-following model applied to a broad stock index (his Four Percent Model) forces the investor to stay with the market's main trend.
- Following the 4% indicator on the Value Line index from 1966 turned $10,000 into more than $233,000 by late 1988, about 15% a year (his own backtest).
- On Wall $treet Week on 16 October 1987 he said he was deeply worried about the stock market, three days before the crash.
Sources
Wikipedia: Martin ZweigCXO Advisory: Martin Zweig's Four Percent ModelStocks & Commodities: 4% model, 'originally developed by Ned Davis'
Summaries are Be The Puck's paraphrase of public material. Be The Puck has no affiliation with the people listed.
Martin Zweig's four percent model
Rule and full recordTrend following · weekly
Buy after a 4% weekly rise off the low; sell after a 4% weekly fall from the high. Simple, and it forces you to stay with the main trend.
In right now150 of 377As of the Oct 13, 2026 close.
Best risk-adjusted results against buy and hold: