Why would Swartz sell shares (at a huge gain, triggering capital gains taxes), only to buy them back 31 days later at a higher cost basis?   Taxes are owed on the first sale at a gain, regardless of a later repurchase.  The wash sale rule comes into play when a stock is sold at a loss; the same shares can be repurchased 31 days later without nullifying your tax loss on the sale.

My personal view is that Swartz is probably selling shares on a regular, preplanned, automatic basis, so as to minimize the impact on the SP and spread it over time.  This would be common practice for a large institutional investor (eg. a mutual fund) seeking to lighten up on a large concentrated stock position.  I also suspect day and swing traders are selling quite a bit; keep in mind the overall economic and market psychology right now is shaky, at best.  Certainly much more negative than the sky is the limit mindset in 1999.

Great discussion and the above is JMHO and worth about $.02.