it's somewhat of a personal decision. the markets are in turmoil. do you know where the value of the long-term stocks will be next year?
you could offset all but $3000 of short-term losses with long-term gains since the tax laws limit the deduction of capital losses to $3000 each year.
here's an example
$10K STCL
$7K LTCG
net deduction $3K STCL
no carryover
don't take the LTCG in year 1
$10K STCL
deduction $3K STCL
carryover to year 2 $7K STCL
take $7K LTCG in year 2
net $0
