Dividends and the fiscal cliff

[Grieve]

The main reason is that capital gains would jump from 15% to as high as 39.6% for some earners, or 31-36% for most of us. There's also a 3.8% Obamacare surcharge for high earners ($200k+ or $250k+ for couples), but that's pretty small compared to the main jump.

I was wondering about puts as well, but I'm assuming since everyone knows what will happen that that will already be factored in?

Yes, mostly this is to benefit insiders and big investors. For most of the companies who have done a special dividend, family members own the majority of the shares, and will benefit the most.