Source
r/investing•
cablecore

Changing ticker symbol - cost basis change

I have a bunch of POT that changed to NTR when they were bought out. When the ticker symbol in my etrade portfolio changed, the cost basis was also reset, so I went from showing a loss to showing a gain. Etrade has removed the ability to edit lot details within the account.

So what happens when I sell the shares and report it to the IRS? Do I just put in the original POT cost basis and use that for calculations?

Posted Mar 16, 2018, 3:31 PM UTC

37
DeeDee_Z•

The total cost basis for the entire lot is unchanged. Remember the definition: total amount paid (incl fees and commissions) for total amount owned.

Per share basis can obviously change, if during the buyout you received anything other than 1 share of new for 1 share of old.

4
cablecoreOP•

i went from 222 shares with an average cost basis of $29.31 on dec 31 to 89 shares with an average cost basis of $52.988 after the merger. $6506 ≠ $4715, so something is wacky.

3
DeeDee_Z•

Was there also a cash component of the transaction?

3
cablecoreOP•

$4.83 cash-in-lieu according to my january etrade statement. probably to make up for a partial share.

from the press release, there was no other cash component.

The merger of equals resulted in PotashCorp shareholders receiving 0.40 common shares of Nutrien for each common share of PotashCorp they owned, and Agrium shareholders received 2.23 common shares of Nutrien for each common share of Agrium they owned.

math checks out. 222*.4 = 88.8 shares.

2
jsf67•

to 89 shares

Clearly this doesn't answer the major difference, but to clarify your math, do you really mean 89 shares? Shouldn't it be 88 shares, plus cash in lieu of the fractional share?

After you double check all your numbers, contact eTrade customer support and ask them where the cost basis came from. If your numbers are correct, they made a mistake that you need to get corrected.

3
cablecoreOP•

i was doing a bit of rounding, it was actually 222.7233 shares * .4 = 89.08932 shares. 0.08932*$54.0898 = the $4.83, so that's legit.

i'll send them a message and see what they say.

3
cablecoreOP•

solved. this was actually easier than i though, i should have just paid more attention. they didn't adjust the cost basis of one lot after the merger. two purchases on the same day (split lot), wildly different prices.

https://imgur.com/a/R4XdI

pay attention kids, big companies fuck up all the time.

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[deleted]•

[deleted]

1