Silver futures were battered by gold's plunge, with the day's gains erased when investors liquidated near-month contracts.

Also leading the bond selloff were investors' liquidating their long positions before the end of the year.

Small investors, it turns out, did not liquidate their portfolios.

Their services include: improving informational efficiency for the investors and, in the case of brokers, offering a transactions service by which an investor can liquidate existing assets.

Another bank would charge only three months' interest as a penalty if an investor liquidated the investment.

The dollar also weakened as many investors liquidated their positions before the Fourth of July holiday weekend.

Some entrepreneurs and investors are liquidating businesses and laying off workers, contributing to an economic morass that helps to feed the social unrest that led to armed conflict in the first place.

Third, asset-backed commercial paper is very short-term, so that investors can easily liquidate their investment by not rolling over maturing asset-backed commercial paper.

Foreign investors liquidate their positions, causing a further fall in the stock market and precipitating a run on the dollar.

He added, "I think foreign institutional investors will be liquidating their stock holdings here with each slight rise in the stock market."