the IRS considers you an investor and investment expenses except for investment interest expense are not deductible for federal income tax purposes. under the rules for home mortgage interest and for tracing the use of the loan proceeds the interest may not be deductible as mortgage interest but as investment interest -schedule A form 4952 which is limited to investment income.
Per IRS findings, only second mortgage interest paid on acquisition indebtedness – i.e. a loan used to acquire, build, or substantially improve a main or second home – is deductible. This acquisition indebtedness must apply to the specific home that you have used to secure the second mortgage if you wish for any sums to become eligible for interest deductions.
here's what the IRS says about trader (schedule c for expenses schedule D for capital gains/losses unless the trader makes a valid 475(f) election then the capital gains/losses are treated as ordinary income and reported on form 4797) vs, investor (expenses other than investment interest are not deductible)
Traders
Special rules apply if you're a trader in securities, in the business of buying and selling securities for your own account. The law considers this to be a business, even though a trader doesn't maintain an inventory and doesn't have customers. To be engaged in business as a trader in securities, you must meet all the following conditions:
You must seek to profit from daily market movements in the prices of securities and not from dividends, interest, or capital appreciation;
Your activity must be substantial; and
You must carry on the activity with continuity and regularity.
The following facts and circumstances should be considered in determining if your activity is a securities trading business:
Typical holding periods for securities bought and sold;
The frequency and dollar amount of your trades during the year;
The extent to which you pursue the activity to produce income for a livelihood; and
The amount of time you devote to the activity.
If the nature of your trading activities doesn't qualify as a business, you're considered an investor and not a trader. It doesn't matter whether you call yourself a trader or a day trader, you're an investor. A taxpayer may be a trader in some securities and may hold other securities for investment. The special rules for traders don't apply to those securities held for investment. A trader must keep detailed records to distinguish the securities held for investment from the securities in the trading business. The securities held for investment must be identified as such in the trader's records on the day he or she acquires them (for example, by holding them in a separate brokerage account).
