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From: mat@amdahl.UUCP (Mike Taylor)
Newsgroups: net.invest
Subject: Re: 1st Aussie Fund (& SUN! )
Message-ID: <2674@amdahl.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 31-Jan-86 11:18:31 EST
Article-I.D.: amdahl.2674
Posted: Fri Jan 31 11:18:31 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 1-Feb-86 20:35:56 EST
References: <98@ucdavis.UUCP> <233@hropus.UUCP>
Organization: Amdahl Corp, Sunnyvale CA
Lines: 22
Summary: Straddles

In article <233@hropus.UUCP>, ka@hropus.UUCP (Kenneth Almquist) writes:
> >      The January "Money" issue discussed foreign investments, and mentioned
> > a new mutal, "First Australia Fund", a closed-end no-load long-term capital-
> > appreciation (say it 3 times, fast) fund of Australian stocks.
> 
> >      The main weirdity is taxes.  They state that their options and futures  
> > transactions will often result in 'straddles' for US Fed. taxes.  They also 
> > say 'the consequences of straddle transactions to the Fund are not entirely 
> > clear'!  So how is the individual taxee to understand? 
> 
> "Straddles" sound like speculation rather than investing to me.  And
> if they are such great things, why haven't they been used for years
> and had their tax status clarified a long time ago?

They have. Straddles across the year end used to be (note tense) a way to
manage taxes until the IRS stopped the game.  However, when you complicate
the situation with an offshore fund doing the transactions, there may be
loopholes (or there may not be). I have no idea.
-- 
Mike Taylor                        ...!{ihnp4,hplabs,amd,sun}!amdahl!mat

[ This may not reflect my opinion, let alone anyone else's.  ]