A significant percentage of investors have little interest in the bottom line - the dividend. They are people who got in well below the current price and sell at a great profit when ther are plenty of eager buyers. They are content with a few points below the top. This will settle down before long. What really interests me is the holder who sells the day after the record date at more or less the same price as the day before the record date. If he "loses" 5cps on the deal he is still 4cps in profit and if he hangs on until the dividend is paid and the dust has cleared, he can buy back his holding at a greatly reduced price, normally.I play this game some of the time but I'm a bit cautious at present. I missed a dividend a while ago thinking that the high price I got just befor the record date was enough to guarantee that my buy back cost after the date would give me a greater profit than the dividend but it didn't.