What would be some reasons why investors sold stocks today when they could have sold on Monday and reap tax benefits on realized losses?
this briefing.com day summary pretty much puts everything in perspective End of Day Summary : It was anything but a happy start to the new year for bullish-minded investors as oil prices hitting $100 and a report pointing to a contraction in the manufacturing sector fueled recession concerns. In essence, it was the ISM Index that acted as the main catalyst for Wednesday's selling activity. The report on national manufacturing activity slipped to 47.7 in December from 50.8 in November. The dividing line between expansion and contraction is 50, so the December number was particularly alarming given that readings below 47 have been consistent with the last two recessions... Economists had expected a reading just north of 50. The negative surprise played into concerns about a spillover effect from the housing downturn. Accordingly, just about every sector traded down today with the exception of the energy sector (+0.6%), which jumped in conjunction with oil prices. Crude futures for February delivery hit a contract high of $100 before settling the day at $99.45, up 3.6%. The jump in prices was driven by geopolitical concerns and the belief that the government's inventory report on Thursday will show another decline in stockpiles... Gold futures were also in focus today, hitting a contract high of $864.90 per troy ounce amid inflation concerns that were stoked by weakness in the dollar and the prices paid component of the ISM Index creeping up to 68.0 from 67.5... The minutes from the December 11 FOMC meeting, which were released in the early afternoon, made note of the Fed's inflation concerns, yet there still seemed to be a stronger emphasis in the minutes on growth concerns. Ultimately, the minutes didn't provide a lot of new insight for the market, which saw a brief uptick after their release but eventually rolled over again to end the day on a weak note.... Semiconductor stocks comprised one of the weakest-performing groups (-4.1%) after Banc of America Securities cut its view from Buy to Neutral, citing the risk of slower growth. As part of that downgrade, the firm also cut its ratings for the likes of Intel (INTC 25.35, -1.31) and Texas Instruments (TXN 32.35, -1.05) from Buy to Neutral, and for Advanced Micro Devices (AMD 7.14, -0.36) from Neutral to Sell... The financial sector (-2.5%) picked up where it left off in 2007 and ended Wednesday's session as the worst-performing sector. The recession concerns and news that National City (NCC 15.59, -0.87) cut its dividend 49% to preserve capital contributed to the weak showing. With the fallout in the stock market, Treasury prices rallied across the yield curve. The yield on the 2-year note fell 16 basis points to 2.88% while the yield on the benchmark 10-year note dropped 11 basis points to 3.91%... Dow -1.7%... S&P 500 -1.4%... Nasdaq 100 -1.7%... S&P Midcap 400 -1.2% ...Russell 2000 -1.6%.