Beckman, Robert C. 1934-2007 (Bob Beckman, Robert Beckman, Robert Charles Beckman)

OBITUARY NOTICE—

See index for CA sketch: Born August 23, 1934, in New York, NY; died of cancer, December 6, 2007. Financial analyst, investment advisor, broadcaster, executive, and author. As an investment advisor, Beckman was often spectacularly wrong, but he was right often enough to acquire great wealth for himself and many of his clients. He was best known throughout England, where he settled in 1963, and where his flamboyant approach to economics and finance made him a household name. Beckman established RCB Financial and the Investors' Bulletin in 1968, and he remained at the helm of both until 1996. He promoted himself and his investment strategies on the long-running radio program The Beckman Report, beginning in 1976, and created the Beckman International Capital Accumulator Unit Trust in 1982. Beckman's prophecies were consistently gloomy and frequently wrong, especially regarding the stock and real estate markets, yet his advice was simple and sound enough to help many ordinary investors succeed: do your research and do not risk what you dare not lose. Throughout Beckman's career, he reportedly earned—and lost—much, but he spent his last years in great luxury in the principality of Monaco. Beckman wrote several books, including Supertiming, the Unique Elliott Wave System: Keys to Anticipating Impending Stock Market Action (1979), The Down-wave: Surviving the Second Great Depression (1983), Into the Upwave: How to Prosper from Slump to Boom (1988), Crashes—Why They Happen: How You Can Survive Them (1988), and Housequake: Is This the Right Time to Buy a House? Is This the Right Time to Own a House? (1996).

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Times (London, England), December 29, 2007, p. 76.