123K shares traded today out of roughly 37 million o/s... that is roughly one third of 1%... down a nickel and a dime... and the price today was set by 1 investor share out of every 300 being both bought and sold... now that is a ratio - eh?... 1:300... 299 shares held... 1 is sold... and the 1 sets the price... and the 299 lose value... this is how the market works... price is set at the margins... during good times large volume drives the pps higher, during bad times large volume drives the pps lower... during periods of silence the market is heavily manipulated in low volume and frequently the pps is driven lower by the one pesky share misrepresenting the other 299...
so why would that one share sell for a lower price... many candidates today 1) to support a short position 2) to lock in a loss and lower a tax bill 3) to cover a margin calls 4) to buy Christmas presents... and so on... many reasons... none of them material to the underlying valuation of ANY...
and yet a few retail investors, reading far, far too much into the days events may begin to wonder... what does it all mean... it means nothing to long horizon investors... it means that 1 share out of 300 was sold today at a price and a reason known with certainty only to that one... and the other 299 shares bled red... the macro environment has turned negative and risk averse, there remains a short position, it is end-of-year tax planning season... this is likely to go on for a minute... and then, quite likely when you least expect it, it will all turn again...
