I find this to be VERY suspicious:

http://www.dailyherald.com/search/se...y.asp?id=96641

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a potential presidential candidate in 2008, sold all his stock in his family’s hospital corporation about two weeks before it issued a disappointing earnings report and the price fell nearly 15 percent.

Frist held an undisclosed amount of stock in Hospital Corporation of America, based in Nashville, Tenn., the nation’s largest for-profit hospital chain. On June 13, he instructed the trustee managing the assets to sell his HCA shares and those of his wife and children, said Amy Call, a spokeswoman for Frist.

Frist’s shares were sold by July 1 and those of his wife and children by July 8, Call said. The trustee decided when to sell the shares and the Tennessee Republican had no control over the exact time they were sold, she said.

HCA shares peaked at midyear, climbing to $58.22 a share on June 22. After slipping slightly for two weeks, the price fell to $49.90 on July 13 after the company announced its quarterly earnings would not meet analysts’ expectations. On Tuesday, the shares closed at $48.76.
Now, I can somewhat see why someone would sell their stock when it peaks, and I can also understand someone selling stock like this if they are preparing for a presidential run. But still, it seems fishy to me.

At least the drop in price was not Martha Stewart-Global Crossing like.

That appears to be the argument being made in response:

“To avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest Senator Frist went beyond what ethics requires and sold the stock,” Call said. Asked why he had never done so before, she said, “I don’t know that he’s been worried about it in the past.”

An HCA spokesman said the company had no part in Frist’s decision.
I guess it is also possible that Frist's sale of all his stock played a role in the price falling.

If anyone has read a good justification for this, I'd like to hear it. Otherwise, it looks really fishy to me.