All Clear for Tax-Selling

With the re-election of President Bush, the tax breaks on capital gains are safe for the foreseeable future.

That means the annual year-end ritual of tax-loss "harvesting," or selling off selected losses in an investment portfolio and using the losses to offset gains, can proceed as usual.

Had John Kerry, with his pledge to reduce taxes on higher income taxpayers, been the victor instead, investors owning stocks and mutual funds with large embedded capital gains might have been scared into wholesale selling this year while the tax breaks were still good. ...