Everyone probably has lots of realized gains this year, congrats. But it will be very painful when you have to write a check to Uncle Sam next year. What about forming a trading strategy to harvest tax losses? here is what you can do:
1. but a ATM leap call (say Jan 2027 expiration) on spy or qqq (not spx or ndx)
2. sell a ATM near term call ( say Jan 2026 expiration), or with a strike price with similar delta
before year end,
3. if market went down, roll the leap call further and harvest the loss. Close both trade when the near term call expires.
4. if market went up, roll the near term further and harvest the loss. Close both trades in 2026
This will not trigger the wash sell rule, but is there any potentail risk?
