Transaction costs$$In late December you decide to sell a losing position that you hold in Twitter so you can capture the loss and use it to offset some capital$$ gains, thus reducing your taxes for the current year.$$ However, since you believe that Twitter is a good$$ long$-$term investment, you wish to buy back your position in February next year. You call your Charles Schwab brokerage account manager and request that he sell your $1,600$ shares of Twitter and buy them back in February. Charles Schwab charges a commission of $$$$25$ for$$ broker$-$assisted trades.

a$.$ Suppose that your total transaction costs for selling the $1,600$ shares of Twitter in December were $$$$45\mathrm{.}00.$ What was the$$ bid$/$ask spread for Twitter at the time your trade was$$ executed?

b$.$ Given that Twitter is listed on the$$ NYSE, do your total transaction costs for December seem$$ reasonable? Explain why or why not.

c$.$ When your February statement arrives in the$$ mail, you see that your total transaction costs for buying the $1,600$ shares of Twitter were $$$$40\mathrm{.}20.$ What was the$$ bid$/$ask spread for Twitter at the time your trade was$$ executed?

d$.$ What are your total$$ round$-$trip transaction costs for both selling and buying the$$ shares, and what could you have done differently to reduce the total$$ costs?