Premier Brands Inc.(fka BRND)

[onlyme]

First a disclaimer. I am not a lawyer and am not giving advice.
My understanding of the tax code is that you can claim a capital loss on a stock if the stock is determined to be worthless. This can be when a business goes bankrupt and is no longer traded under the stock symbol. This makes it hard when the original business owner, ceo, or whatever hightails it out of the country to never be found again, but leaves the stock shell for someone else to take up. So there is an abandonment clause that does allow you to go to your broker and basically tell them you do not wish to keep the stock, and see if they will take the stock. Then you can claim the capital loss - because you could never make a gain. From a web-site I found the following

Under rules that went into effect in 2008, worthless securities also include those you abandon after March 12, 2008. To abandon a security, you have to give up all rights in the security and you can't take anything in exchange for it, like money or other stock. You need to make sure the security is removed from your brokerage or other account. The abandonment rule can make it easier for you to claim the deduction.