- Cost Basis
- The total amount you paid for your shares, including fees.
- Average Cost Basis (ACB)
- The average price paid across all purchases of a stock. ACB calculator →
- FIFO (First In, First Out)
- First In, First Out — oldest shares are sold first.
- LIFO (Last In, First Out)
- Last In, First Out — newest shares are sold first.
- Tax Lot
- A specific batch of shares you bought on a single date at a single price. Tax lots let you choose which shares to sell for tax purposes.
- Wash Sale / Superficial Loss
- Selling a security at a loss and buying it back within a short window. US: 30 days, Canada: 30 days (superficial loss). Disallows the loss. Superficial loss vs wash sale →
- Superficial Loss (Canada)
- Canada's counterpart to the wash-sale rule: a loss is denied when you (or an affiliate) buy the same security within 30 days before or after the sale.
- Adjusted Cost Base (ACB)
- Adjusted cost base — Canada's cost basis per security: what you paid, averaged across purchases, adjusted for fees, return of capital and reinvested dividends.
- T5008 Slip (Canada)
- The Canadian slip a broker files for each security sold in the year (proceeds and, sometimes, cost). StockWatcher reconciles it against your own ledger.
- Net Investment Income Tax (NIIT, US)
- Net Investment Income Tax — a US surtax on investment income (dividends, interest, capital gains) above an income threshold that depends on filing status.
- Section 1256 Contracts (US)
- US contracts (index options, futures) marked to market at year end and taxed 60% long-term / 40% short-term regardless of how long they were held.
- Currency Gain
- Gain or loss from exchange rate changes on foreign holdings.
- FX Rate
- The exchange rate between two currencies (e.g., USD to CAD).