Say you have this stock that has a $10,000 short-term loss...

Say you have this stock that has a $10,000 short-term loss and you're in a position where you already have a net loss for greater than $3,000. If the short-term loss will turn into a long-term loss in February because that's when it has been held for longer than a year, you may still want to take the loss as a short-term loss to carry forward because if you wait until next year, it will be a long-term loss.