Yeah, I've wondered about that. My theory is that it'll hurt that $1M+ housing, but it could actually help the housing just below that range. I haven't looked to see if the mortgage deduction is a phase out (which it should be rather than a quantum cutoff), but if it's a quantum cutoff it seems like it could drive some demand down from the $1M range into housing in the $750K range, and that range won't be hurt by the bill (other than property tax deduction caps - did those go through?). Does that make sense, or is my thinking flawed?

I just opened a TD Ameritrade brokerage account as my Scottrade brokerage and bank accounts start shutting down in mid January through mid February during the takeover.

I didn't want to wait and have it done automatically because there will be a LONG delay from getting a new debit card and the ability to auto pay bills online. It's been my main bank account since 2009. I loved it and it served me great.

As I logged into my new TD Ameritrade account I am overwhelmed with a massive amount of info. Too much in my opinion.

My questions:
Who here has an Ameritrade account?
Can the screens or tabs be customized to remove the clutter?
Do you have the cash management account as well tied to the brokerage?
Do you auto pay monthly bills like a cell phone or gym membership?
Do you have a debit card?
How quickly do they clear check deposits?
Is there anything negative about the account you can think of?
What's the best features?

I feel like it's going to take me months to get used to it.

I use stop losses nearly every day on certain stocks. Especially some of the highly speculative ones where you expect a 20% run up but may get a 20% drop. I'll buy the stock and then just go ahead and set up a stop loss.

And then a stock like X which is up over 50% for the year and reaching a level that could begin to decline. I think when it hits $40 I will put a daily stop loss just in case. It costs nothing to do it anyway.

BTW , scho63 , I use ETRADE so I can't help with your Q's

Stocks involved in Copper mining are supposed to be good according to some meathead on CNBC.

I found FCX,SCCO,VEDL

Also energy stock are kicking ass this last 7 days.

EOG
CVX
Fang

I bought CVX and Fang today.

Should have gone VLO.

FANG is going to correct after their ridiculous last year.

VLO has a nice chart . I know Valero very well as I live so close to their refinery I'm in the kill zone if it blows. Have several tenants that work there.

All these oil / energy stocks have only made a move up the last 3 months so they still have upside potential.

Decided on AT&T as a long term dividend stock. 5% yield is very enticing for a stock that averages $35.

Also looking at PNNT. Only $7 with a good history and a 10% yield. 10%!

Tax time, Just a thought but if you got stocks in your portfolio showing a loss and you can use a tax deduction you may consider selling them and if you still want to keep them buy back after Jan1.

I have TD Ameritrade. It's definitely got A LOT of info and IMO, a bit too much too. Once you find where things are located, it's decent. Although they have way too many tabs across the top of the page!

I don't do anything but put money into and out of this account to buy stocks. I don't pay bills with it. It has a direct link with my US Bank checking account for deposits that are free and take about 48 hours to show up.



Best feature is that you can customize "Watchlists" of stocks you'd like to track. This then brings up articles about those companies on the right side of the screen. The positions you currently hold, also populate article links on the right side of the screen. I really like this feature for tracking things I own and those I might want to own.

Any time I've had a question about something, I email a help message from the account. Someone responds within 24 hours and you can continue to message them with good response time until your question in answered. I even did this recently for them to explain to me what type of account you need for options trading. I was impressed with the thorough responses and timely answering.

Do you still have to wait the 30 days for it not to be a wash sale? I'd assume so. I've never been audited. I wonder how close they look at this stuff

I THINK Unless you are filing it under a schedule C and paying SE tax on gain, your limited to 3,000 loss.

Or if it is hedging for a business.

I can’t remember all the rules but I THINK that is right.

My accountant had someone’s hedges get audited and they were waaaaaaaay too stupid to figure out what was happening. Wash sales are a little bit straight forward though.

You can use 3k to offset income each year but you can carry over the remainder of your losses to future years to offset gains or use against loss again.

Good to hear about the auditors. Mistakes may have been made in the past :bolt:

Yes

$3,000 up to the amount of your cap gains, I do believe. You can carry forward any losses beyond that.