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    videobill's Avatar
    videobill Posts: 2, Reputation: 1
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    #1

    Mar 27, 2008, 12:22 PM
    How do I get stock pricing for the old AT&T stock pre 1983
    We bought stock in AT&T Corp. from 1975 to 1983 and our financial advisor said we should sell the stock and diversify. When we went to do our taxes or accountant said we need to know what we paid for the stocks during those years or we will have to pay capital gains on the amount of the cashed stock. We have tried to find info on the stock prices for those years 1975-1983 on the internet but have found nothing. If anyone knows where to find the info that would be great!
    Thanks:D
    NeedKarma's Avatar
    NeedKarma Posts: 10,635, Reputation: 1706
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    #2

    Mar 27, 2008, 12:24 PM
    T: Historical Prices for AT&T INC. - Yahoo! Finance

    Edit to add: it doesn't go back past 1984. :(
    NeedKarma's Avatar
    NeedKarma Posts: 10,635, Reputation: 1706
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    #3

    Mar 27, 2008, 12:28 PM
    Probably because AT&T Inc. was founded in 1983 as Southwestern Bell Corporation.
    ebaines's Avatar
    ebaines Posts: 12,131, Reputation: 1307
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    #4

    Mar 28, 2008, 06:05 AM
    If you have held AT&T stock continuously since 1983 then you owned the stock prior to the original divestiture, which means that you also received stock in the "baby bells" on 1/1/1984. This includes the original NYNEX and BellAtlantics - which later merged into Verizon; BellSouth - which later merged with AT&T, Southwestern Bell and Ameritech - which merged into SBC which later bought the old AT&T, Qwest and Pac Bell, which were also made part of SBC. You also received Lucent stock when it was spun out in 1996, which in turn spun out Avaya and Agere in 2000, and you should also have some NCR stock from its spin out. So whatever purchase price you paid in 1983 for the AT&T stock needs to be reduced by the values of all these spin-offs.

    There's some good info on AT&T tax basis here:

    AT&T Stockholder Services

    Basically you multiply your original cost basis by 0.949 to account for all these puts and takes and stock splits.

    Here is a web site with historical AT&T Inc stock price info, going back to 1928:

    Historical Stock Data
    amdeist's Avatar
    amdeist Posts: 35, Reputation: 4
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    #5

    May 5, 2009, 07:43 PM
    In 1983, AT&T had the symbol SBC and was Southwestern Bell Telephone. You might call your local library and ask if they have archives or can get you archives of newpapers from May 1983. A Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Dallas Morning News, or just about any major newspaper business section should be able to give you prices on dates you need.
    ebaines's Avatar
    ebaines Posts: 12,131, Reputation: 1307
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    #6

    May 6, 2009, 05:35 AM
    Quote Originally Posted by amdeist View Post
    In 1983, AT&T had the symbol SBC and was Southwestern Bell Telephone.
    Be careful - this statement is very misleading, and incorrect for many many stock holders! In 1983 I worked for AT&T, and its symbol was T. The problem is that when SBC bought out AT&T Corp they adoped the name "AT&T Inc" and started using ithe old AT&T Corp stock symbol "T." So If you were originally an owner of SBC stock, your basis in what is now AT&T Inc is what you bought your SBC stock for. But if you were originally a stock owner of AT&T Corp (the old "T"), you are still are a stock owner of "T" and your basis is whatever your basis in AT&T Corp was originally prior to being purchased by SBC.
    Five Rings's Avatar
    Five Rings Posts: 459, Reputation: 7
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    #7

    May 6, 2009, 08:33 AM

    Oh ebaines, that is very good stuff; the community should be grateful for your efforts.
    DataGuru1's Avatar
    DataGuru1 Posts: 1, Reputation: 1
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    #8

    Feb 18, 2010, 10:18 AM
    This will get you to all of the company's historical earnings reports - those that I have viewed include quartly high & low figures for stock prices for the previous & current years... ie) 1974 & 1975...

    http://www.porticus.org/bell/att/historical_financial.htm
    Kensluck's Avatar
    Kensluck Posts: 1, Reputation: 1
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    #9

    Sep 20, 2010, 03:33 PM
    Check with AT&T investor relations, they should have old financial reports in storage. You can also check with a long time brokerage firm or the SEC. One of them should have the info. Any broker with trust accounts should have kept the investor quarterly reports to cover their butt.
    TaxGuyEA's Avatar
    TaxGuyEA Posts: 1, Reputation: 1
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    #10

    Oct 17, 2011, 02:38 PM
    In order for your tax accountants to be able to figure your cost (basis) in AT&T, they will need

    To know how much you purchased and when you purchased for every purchase. Also sales, if any.

    If you know the dates of purchases you can look them up on the AT&T Website:
    http://att.centralcast.net/historic_...px?companyID=2

    Even though the website belongs to AT&T Inc. they still have information available for the old

    AT&T Corp. because they acquired the old AT&T in November of 2006. For prices in AT&T Corp before

    1984 they only provide the high and low for each market day - so you will need to add the high

    And low together and divide by two to get an average.

    If you have access to any larger public libraries or college libraries, they may have Standard

    And Poor's NYSE Daily Quotations.

    Also some libraries have access to the New York Times prior issues online or microfilm, in which

    You can also find historical quotations. For your purposes the easiest route would be the AT&T

    Website mentioned above. Be careful you are looking up AT&T Corp. not AT&T Inc.

    It would also be helpful to know if you had any re-invested dividends. (Most people who had AT&T

    Shares did). If you have old tax returns or company or broker statements you might be able to

    Determine this.

    As a general rule the first step in calculating historical AT&T cost (basis) is to determine how

    Many shares of AT&T you had on December 31, 1983 (Divestiture date) and how much you paid for

    Them.

    At that point, unless you are financial or accounting professional, or good with numbers and

    Willing to invest a lot of time, you should refer to a professional.

    You can find month end prices for AT&T Corp from 1970 through November 2005 as well as dividends

    Paid and prices for all the "Baby Bell" companies here:

    http://www.historicalstockinfo.com/babybells.html


    Here's the link for the AT&T historical prices:

    http://www.historicalstockinfo.com/attoldhistory.html

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