All you share market types

[danny_galaga]

At the moment, my share portfolio is in the black by a small amount. The portfolio has some duds in it.  Some of the other shares are good, just a bit lower than what I paid. A mental calculation tells me that I could sell the whole portfolio, as is and then buy back most of the same shares again, letting go of one or two companies that are real duds, and I would still be a little ahead after the broker fees. At tax time, the capital gains will be virtually offset by the capital losses.

The idea being that growth of my portfolio should be swifter after the shakeup, not being held back by the slow movers.

Good idea or not? If not, why?

[Hoopz]

In the US at least, you'd have to wait longer than 30 days to buy any of the same stocks back.  The US has a rule called "wash sale".  So that's my first thought. 

The other idea you need to factor in is what your goals are in your portfolio (short and long term).  Assessing your portfolio on a regular basis (quarterly, semi-annually, and annually) is a great thing to do.  Figure out where you want to be (reasonable expectations of course) and then determine which of your shares are doing what you want or not.  Don't get emotional about it either (Gordon Gekko!).  If they companies aren't meeting your goals, look to see if others did during the same time.  If so, it doesn't mean that they will perform the same going forward, but at least they were moving in the right direction.

No idea if Oz has a wash sale rule so you'll need to research that.

[Samstag]

I saved myself a lot of time and frustration by switching from stocks to mutual funds.  I use a few different funds to diversify, but let the fund managers diversify within their range so I don't have to worry about individual stocks.  I do better now than I ever did with individual stocks and I spend very little time juggling assets if I need to make changes.

And I don't know if this will apply to you in Australia, but here in the states you can buy and sell funds with no transaction fees.

[danny_galaga]

In the US at least, you'd have to wait longer than 30 days to buy any of the same stocks back.  The US has a rule called "wash sale".  So that's my first thought. 

The other idea you need to factor in is what your goals are in your portfolio (short and long term).  Assessing your portfolio on a regular basis (quarterly, semi-annually, and annually) is a great thing to do.  Figure out where you want to be (reasonable expectations of course) and then determine which of your shares are doing what you want or not.  Don't get emotional about it either (Gordon Gekko!).  If they companies aren't meeting your goals, look to see if others did during the same time.  If so, it doesn't mean that they will perform the same going forward, but at least they were moving in the right direction.

No idea if Oz has a wash sale rule so you'll need to research that.

Ah, thanks for that. It sounds like I could get a away with it in Australia, but I would have to consult an accountant or something to make sure, so I don't think I'll bother.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wash_sale

"Tax authorities may consider the practice illegal even in the absence of explicit regulations, on the grounds that the transaction is not genuine, but intended only to reduce tax liability (such as in Australia)."

[HaRuMaN]

Sell everything, and invest in pork belly futures...