Oct 22, 2026
Welcome to Tax Loss Season
Every December, a strange thing happens in the stock market.
Read the postEvery December, the losers get sold for taxes.
Every week until December 31, we publish the stocks where this year's buyers are most underwater, before the selling peaks, and which ones are worth buying from the people dumping them.
How the selling works
Investors in taxable accounts sell losing positions before year-end to offset gains. That selling clusters in the same stocks at the same time.
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Step 1
October and November
Losses pile up in the year's worst performers. Anyone who bought this year at higher prices is sitting on a loss they can use.
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Step 2
December
Selling peaks as holders lock in losses before December 31. Prices can fall further than the news alone would explain.
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Step 3
January
The tax reason to sell disappears. With the forced sellers gone, the most-sold names often recover part of the drop.
Who is underwater this year
The screener compares each stock's price to its year-to-date VWAP, the average price paid by everyone who bought this year. The further below it, the more holders have a loss to harvest.
Screener preview
Prices as of Oct 8, 2026| Stock | Price | YTD VWAP | Below VWAP | Market cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CARAvis Budget Group | $109.00 | $254.75 | -57.2% | $3.9B |
| TTDThe Trade Desk | $12.14 | $20.60 | -41.1% | $5.7B |
| FICOFair Isaac | $690.78 | $1,069.27 | -35.4% | $14.9B |
| WLKWestlake | $61.68 | $89.66 | -31.2% | $7.9B |
| ROLRollins | $31.68 | $45.04 | -29.6% | $15.2B |
| BSXBoston Scientific | $41.96 | $57.44 | -26.9% | $60.8B |
The full screener covers 2,133 US stocks over $100M in market cap. Open the screener
What a loss is worth
A realized loss lowers your tax bill. Short-term losses, on positions held a year or less, offset gains taxed at your ordinary income rate, so they are usually worth more than long-term ones.
Say you bought 200 shares at $50 in March and the stock now trades at $30.
- Cost basis
- $10,000
- Value today
- $6,000
- Unrealized loss
- −$4,000
- Short-term rate
- 32%
- Tax saved by selling before Dec 31
- $1,280
Get the weekly tax-loss list
The stocks with the most underwater holders, what is behind each drop, and which ones look like fine businesses on sale.
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