Under Internal Revenue Service rules, you cannot deduct losses from sales or trades of stock or securities in a wash sale.

A wash sale occurs when you sell or trade stock or securities at a loss and within 30 days before or after the sale you also:

* Buy substantially identical stock or securities,

* Acquire substantially identical stock or securities in a fully taxable trade, or

* Acquire a contract or option to buy substantially identical stock or securities.

For more information about wash sales, see IRS Publication 550, "Investment Income and Expenses (Including Capital Gains and Losses)." https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p550.pdf.

Notes about what the IRS considers Substantially Identical can be found on page 59 of IRS Publication 550, linked above.