Expert: Steven Taylor - 3/17/2009

Question
In order to complete my late husband's income tax return, I need the book value of Midswana diamond mining stock from 1995(they later became Vertex, then First Strike Diamonds -all worthlessly liquidated, but could be used for capital loss calculations) - all his records were lost and the investment firm has no records available before 1999.  How can I find out this information?  Thanks for any help you can give!

Answer
Margaret, it is difficult to find a price for the stock, as it was traded sporadically on the defunct Canadian Dealer Network. However, from the information I have available, the oldest trading I show is from September 1996 - nothing in 1995. The price I show then is $0.65. I am not sure if it actually traded in 1995 or not, as I believe the stock was spun-out of TNK Resources around that time.