WHEN TOP GUNS LEAVE

Other ill omens:

"Pump and dump" is a phrasethat became familiar on Wall Streetduring the dot-com fever. Scammerswould talk up a stock, then sell whenthe price went up, leaving unwaryinvestors holding the bag. A newphrase is now hitting the Street:"dump and jump." It refers to high-levelexecutives who bail out of theircompany's stock and then bail out ofthe company. Market mavens viewthis as a red flag, a sign that you maywant to think about unloading thestock yourself. Bewareof big stock sales by company insiders,even if they don't jump ship, androsy company forecasts that are atodds with the state of the company'sindustry and the overall economy.