Market Overview  As Tax Season Approaches, Start Harvesting
Gains and Losses  by Wayne Ferbert, Minyanville staff writer
It's that time of year again. No, I'm not talking about Black
Friday. I'm referring to the end of the year, which means tax
planning season. At my firm, we are not experts on taxes or tax
planning, but you don’t need to be an expert to understand some
of the basic rules about harvesting tax gains and losses.    If
it is a loss, look at whether it is over $3,000 – the most you
could claim before you would need to carry forward some of the
loss. If it is under $3,000, then you are probably OK for the
year. If it is over, then you probably want to look for some
gains to harvest that can be offset by the losses.  If you have
a gain, then you should look for losses that you can realize
that can offset the gains. This is especially important if the
gain you have is short-term in nature. Short-term gains (held
for less than one year) are taxed at your normal income tax
rate. These are the most im