It's not an excuse. Tax Loss Selling has been occuring much earlier than the norm we are all accustomed to. Even the annual October crashes have moved into September and then the bull market resumes. The patterns of the past are no longer the patterns of the present --- we are living in every changing times and a lot may have to do with the demographics of the world and their influence on the markets.
I think tax loss selling now starts in October and then, if a stock has no good news, this restarts again in December.
Just an opinion.
Monolithic