There is unnecessary stigma attached to being powered down IMO.

My original assumption was that there were penalties associated with powering down. Possibly that is the source of part of my thinking... regardless, I think stigma may be the wrong word to it. For anyone who understands economics, both macro and micro, powering down is the most logical, rational choice. Given the existing reward and incentive structure that seems to be the running theme of Steem (thankfully), I found it odd that there was no such incentives to remaining powered up.

I think the down pressure can simply be put down to a couple of whales selling (which is their prerogative) and not enough demand (at the moment) to prop up the price.

I think the Steem price is in a race towards the base price at this point. Without any change to the power-down structure incentives, the price of Steem will naturally seek bottom.