Business and Personal Finance Dictionary

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• UNREALIZED LOSS
  
  If the market price of a security you own drops below the amount you paid for it, you have an unrealized loss. The loss remains unrealized as long as you don't sell the security while the price is down. In a volatile market, of course, an unrealized loss can become an unrealized gain, and vice versa, at any time. One reason you might choose to sell at a loss, other than needing cash at that moment, is to prevent further losses in a security that seems headed for a still-lower price.
  
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