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and is from the sale of 600 shares of IBM stock sold on September
19, 1997.
The basic problem with this case is that we have precious
little evidence. During 1996 and 1997, petitioner made a number
of trades including long and short stock transactions and “puts”
and “calls”. We have end-of-the-year tax statements for 1996 and
1997 and three different confirmations of the sale of 600 shares
of IBM stock. One of the confirmations canceled another purchase
confirmation. None of the confirmations refer to specific stock
purchased and neither do the tax statements. Although petitioner
received monthly statements, none of them were introduced into
evidence. With this sparse record, we do the best that we can in
sorting out the facts. We must rely on inferences, and absolute
certainty is impossible. To a great extent these uncertainties
bear heavily against petitioner because the inexactitude is of
his own making. See Cohan v. Commissioner, 39 F.2d 540, 544 (2d
Cir. 1930). For convenience we have combined our findings of
fact and discussion.
1. Transaction Involving IBM Stock
At trial, petitioner testified that he frequently traded IBM
stock, but he could not identify any purchase of the 600 shares.
He further testified that he did not know his cost basis for the
3(...continued)
$59,923. The difference ($2) from the stipulated figure appears
to be the result of rounding figures in the stipulation.
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