@JulietteMount - it's the market value - the IRS is not going to give you a benefit on stocks that depreciated.
Example:
I paid 1 million dollars for a stock.
it depreciated all the way to 1 dollar.
the IRS is not going to let me give $1 to a charity and take a $1 million deduction for my personal investment decision. But the IRS will let me take a $1 deduction for the donation of the stock.
