Frist's (feeble) explanation of stock sale

[dajoki]

NYT
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/22/politics/22frist.html?ei=5088&en=b2091d67b4be89cf&ex=1285041600&adxnnl=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&adxnnlx=1127361879-VMupezZBI6jDDlQzbQyYZg

Senate Leader Explains His Sale of a Stock That Then Plummeted

By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
Published: September 22, 2005

WASHINGTON, Sept. 21 - Senator Bill Frist offered an explanation on Wednesday for the timing of his sale in June of his stake in HCA, the giant hospital company that his family founded, as its shares reached a peak and began a steep slide.

An aide to Mr. Frist, majority leader of the Senate and brother of the HCA chairman emeritus, disclosed the sale on Monday in an interview with Congressional Quarterly.

The senator's spokesman, Bob Stevenson, said Wednesday that Mr. Frist "made a conscious decision to divest himself of all HCA assets" so he could pursue an ambitious agenda of health care legislation free of any appearance of self-interest.

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"Good fortune, isn't it?" asked Prof. John C. Coffee, an authority on securities law at Columbia. Professor Coffee said such well-timed sales in the families of top executives were a red flag of possible insider trading and often drew regulatory inquiries, although just a small fraction of such instances lead to formal investigations.