# Q: About a stock that went belly up



## NancyNGA (Mar 3, 2017)

I invested a little money in a stock, UPL (Ultra Petroleum), 20 years ago, and just sat on it.  Got a letter last year (2016) that the company went bankrupt.  I've done nothing about it.  It has just been sitting in an E-Trade account. It is still reported there just like it is an active stock.   (I don't get that.) 

Question:   Do I have to report the loss on my income taxes the year the company went bankrupt, or can I wait until this year, or later?


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## Aunt Bea (Mar 3, 2017)

It appears to be active, maybe the bankruptcy protection is an effort to reorganize.

https://www.google.com/search?q=upl+ultra+petroleum&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8


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## NancyNGA (Mar 3, 2017)

Thanks, Bea.  Looks like you are right. After reading your post, I found this link.  I don't understand financial speak very well, but looks like I don't have to report anything for 2016 at least.  

http://seekingalpha.com/article/402...ptcy-case-shareholders-getting-major-recovery


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## NancyNGA (Mar 3, 2017)

Why I hate the stock market.  Bought this at $2/share before 2002.  Should have been paying attention.  Ha!


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## Meanderer (Mar 3, 2017)

....let's wait awhile...


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## Aunt Bea (Mar 3, 2017)

I had an old friend that always told me never invest more than the price of a good milk cow in a single stock.  His rationale was that every once in a while a farmer loses a good cow but he rarely loses the whole herd.

Looks like you missed out on the big return at $100.00/share but you still more than tripled your money which brings to mind another saying.  _Bears make money and bulls make money but pigs never do!

_Just think if you had sold it at $100.00/share you wouldn't have to listen to me ramble on, LOL!!!


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## Meanderer (Mar 3, 2017)

On the other hand, Nancy, if you had bought a milk cow in 2002, and waited 14 years to check up on it.........


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## NancyNGA (Mar 3, 2017)

Just checked on the price of a good milk cow. :eewwk:  Wow!!!!

I decided to gamble just about enough to buy a cow,  because a friend of mine had a brother---a stock market junky---who was convinced that stock would take off.  He was so sure, he invested every penny he had in it, and even mortgaged his house and used *that* money to buy more. On the one hand, it was a happy ending for him.  He sold at a high value before 2008, and became very rich in just a few years. On the other hand, he died just a few years later, but at least his kids can enjoy it.


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## Catlady (Apr 17, 2017)

I'm confused about this stock.  Seems that it has a new ticker now, UPLMQ.   Seems like you have quadrupled your investment, bought at $2 and now at $12.  My instinct would be to sell, don't like companies that go bankrupt, but I've been wrong plenty. Good luck!

 Read what investors are saying about it at YahooFinance  http://finance.yahoo.com/quote/UPL/community?p=UPL


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## Catlady (Apr 17, 2017)

More info I found, hope you see this, I know thread is old

https://seekingalpha.com/news/3256845-ultra-petroleum-exits-bankruptcy-begin-trading-tomorrow-nasdaq


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## NancyNGA (Apr 17, 2017)

Thanks for reminding me by reviving this thread, PVC.   Intended to sell this stock soon after my last post here (at 6.94), but kept putting it off. Just sold it 5 minutes ago at 11.37.  

Now, I don't want to hear about it when it goes up next week. Please?!?   :lol:


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## Catlady (Apr 17, 2017)

((Now, I don't want to hear about it when it goes up next week. Please?!?))  

LOL, most of the time that happens to me.  A month ago I sold TSLA for a great profit at $270, intending to use the money to buy more shares when market crashes (any time now?), and then it promptly went up to $305 since then.  Oh well, I'll buy again when it goes down.   Congrats on your ''four bagger'' on UPL, even if you missed the $100 a share.  Your friend's brother was extremely lucky in market timing this UPL.


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## NancyNGA (Apr 17, 2017)

PVC, I found out watching the stock market is too nerve-racking for me.  I got into it for about a year a long time ago, very small time. Then quit. It can become addictive.

I remember buying one stock, I believe it was Ford. It kept spinning off (is that the term?) into little shares of other stocks.  One morning I woke up and found I owned a share of Smucker's Jelly stock.  Not worth the commission to sell it. 

I still have a fractional share of Total Systems because whatever I did to sell it, they only took whole shares, not fractions.   They can keep it, but they keep sending me information about it.

Never spent more than I was willing to lose, but obviously I didn't/don't know enough to be messing with individual stocks.


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