X-Message-Number: 10535
Date: Mon, 05 Oct 1998 18:50:24 +0100
From:  (John de Rivaz)
Subject: Re: tax deductible investments

In article: <>  
writes:
> BioTransport is a for profit organization, so when I make an investment,
> it is not tax deductible.

I don't know whether this applies in the US, but in the UK if you make an 
investment in a publically quoted company and the stock quotation goes down 
and you sell at a loss, the loss is tax deductible against other gains. You 
are allowed to buy the same stock back again if you wish, after a fixed 
period - I think it is a month.

If you have a large number of stocks, the money you lose in those that go 
down could be regarded as the cost of the information as to which stocks go 
up. As long as the overall result is a gradual rise in the portfolio value 
over the long term, then you are doing well. 

If your only interest is investment, then the purchase of stocks such as 
BioTransport, BioTime, CryoLife etc should be regarded as "froth" or fun 
investments and not form the core of a portfolio. However from time to time 
such froth can turn out to be a winner and grow tenfold or more. 

After all, when they started, Intel and Microsoft were such stocks. Now 
their progress sets the tone of world markets - at the moment they are 
propping them up. Some comentators beleive that further major falls can only 
occur if there are serious drops in these campanies' quotations.
 
-- 
Sincerely,     * Longevity Report:  http://www.longevb.demon.co.uk/lr.htm
John de Rivaz  * Fractal Report:    http://www.longevb.demon.co.uk/fr.htm
**************** Homepage:http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/JohndeR
    In the information age, sharing can increase world wealth enormously,
        because giving information does not decrease your information.

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