Funds as 'Placeholders' in Tax-Loss Sales

That stock you own. The one that's been stubbornly ignoring the bull market, and your repeated pleadings, and sinking like a stone all year. You know the exact moment when it's going to turn around. It will be the day after you sell it to book the tax loss.

It's Murphy's Law, Wall Street-style.

That will be the moment when the company finally says business has turned the corner. Or that the dismal chief executive has at long last been ousted. Or that Bain Capital has arrived with a fat, juicy takeover bid. ...