But I think it had more to do with this – Google’s last lockup up expires Monday, and some $19 billion of stock comes free to sell. The market more than likely is pricing in the expected selling frenzy.
From the Merc’s coverage:
Karen Brosi, a certified financial planner in Palo Alto, predicts many Google insiders will do just that because they’ve learned an important lesson from their “tech-bubble ancestors.”
“What they know is that stock goes down. They know they have a value on paper. They know the only way to keep that value is to dump that stock,” Brosi said.
Most companies bar workers from selling stock for 180 days after the initial public offering. But the Mountain View Internet search company took the unconventional step of letting employees sell slices of their holdings four times after the IPO in August, and its stock has generally maintained an upward path. Since it went public at $85 it peaked at nearly $211 this month, before slipping back to $187.40 Friday.