Consider that this was the last day for 1999 tax selling
UF, there has been some confusion about this. I know CNBC reported this, and I heard it as well, both on CNBC and on a local radio show. However, as has been pointed out by tax knowledgeable people on this thread, and apparently has been corrected by CNBC, you pay taxes based on when you sell, not when you settle. In either case, I'm not sure the mutual funds were responsible for that selling. I believe they would ask for their orders to be executed at market close, and would ask the specialists and MMs to work their large orders, rather than dump them and drive the price down on themselves. I don't think anyone can know exactly what happened in the last hour, but given the synchronized nature of it, it was either a large sell program or an orchestrated move by the MMs, something they did several times last spring when they brought the market down after large run-ups, when they found themselves dangerously short. But, who knows? |
