But they, too, can carry the loss forward to offset gains in future years.
That's because bad performance in one fund can't offset gains, and the associated carry, in another.
They can also carry forward the losses to offset gains in future years.
Declines in stocks like SBC Communications and Boeing more than offset gains in drug and oil stocks.
Declines in stocks like General Motors, J. P. Morgan and Merck offset gains for I.B.M., Hewlett-Packard and Honeywell.
Usually, if a stock is sold at a loss, that loss will offset gains on other sales.
That helped offset gains in Asia, where operating profit rose 17percentto to 137.2 billion yen, the company said.
He said that some real estate investors might use their donations to offset gains in other properties they sell.
One depressant, analysts said, has been the seasonal sales of losers for tax purposes, typically to offset gains taken previously.
Sales declines for Sprint wireless services offset gains for navigation systems, video gaming, digital cameras and media storage.
Fairfax wanted to use those losses, considered an asset under accounting rules, to offset gains and reduce its tax bill.
