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- Xref: sparky sci.econ:8780 misc.invest:14015 misc.taxes:3608 talk.politics.misc:61037
- Path: sparky!uunet!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!malgudi.oar.net!hyperion!desire.wright.edu!demon
- From: demon@desire.wright.edu (Stupendous Man)
- Newsgroups: sci.econ,misc.invest,misc.taxes,talk.politics.misc
- Subject: Re: Taxes and stocks (mostly)
- Message-ID: <1992Nov19.133054.5703@desire.wright.edu>
- Date: 19 Nov 92 13:30:53 EST
- References: <1992Nov16.125105.5632@desire.wright.edu> <1992Nov16.202148.24943@midway.uchicago.edu> <1992Nov17.171007.5661@desire.wright.edu> <1992Nov18.155751.20714@Princeton.EDU>
- Followup-To: misc.invest,misc.taxes
- Organization: Demonic Possesions, Inc.
- Lines: 68
-
- ...(me:)
- >> Differences in price can be quite large. You'd have to wait for
- >>confirmation of the sell before you bought, at the least...
- >
- > Good grief. Nowadays, you get confirmation in 30 seconds. In 1985, you
- > just got your broker to write a sell ticket and a buy ticket contingent
- > on the execution of the sale. They would go to the floor trader together
- > and he would execute them both. Even in 1985, a floor trader could be
- > instructed to execute both tickets only at a sufficiently small spread
- > (e.g. do the sell and the buy only if the breakage is no more than 1/4).
-
- You are correct. I was thinking in terms of confirmation from the
- broker, and not about contingency sales (which I never do :).
-
- >> Sorry, but there are no losses. Someone does not knock on your door
- >>and ask for money. Paper "losses" are only real if you actually sell at that
- >>point. Most successful traders don't base their trades on paper.
- >
- > Successful traders base all their trades on paper. Successful TRADERS mark
- > their holdings to market every day; every day you operate as if you bought
- > at yesterday's close. Yesterday's profit or loss means nothing today.
-
- Mmmm, I don't know if I can agree with your definition of "successful".
- Success is based on results, and not strategies.
-
- >>It's even better when you realize that
- >>Clinton will either index capital gains for inflation or cut the rate.
- >
- > Dream on.
-
- It's looking that way. He's certainly backed off from his
- post-election assurances about his economic policies.
-
- >>Selling and buying back immediately simply locks in whatever profit
- >>you have at that time.
- >
- > And it raises your cost base. It reduces future taxes at the cost of
- > today's taxes. If you anticipate future taxes will be higher, then it
- > may make sense to pay ahead.
-
- And of course you no longer have the tax money or the commission money
- to invest....
- Maybe "minor" in terms of amounts, but "successful" (sorry, couldn't
- resist) traders don't incurr unnecessary costs. :)
-
- >> Maybe. If Clinton lowers the rate, I win BIG.
- >
- > Still dreaming ...
- >
- >>> I'm sure there are a number of people in misc.invest who have the same
- >>> fallacious reasoning as you do. That's how the rest of the world makes
- >>> its money in the market.
- >>
- >> Heh. So your portfolio is up how much this year? Mines up 40% so far.
- >
- > Don't start with numbers. If numbers are the only guide to the truth,
- > what are you going to do when I say that I agree with Ted Frank and I
- > beat your 40% going away? Does that make Ted Frank right?
-
- Nope. My comparison is with Ted.
-
- BTW-how much more would you have if you had held?
-
- Brett
- ===============================================================================
- 80s: 18 million new jobs, deficits down (%GNP), tax rates down, tax revenues up
- GNP up, inflation down, unemployment down, interest rates down, cold war won
- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-