After Marlene's stock split, what is her new basis for the shares?

To determine Marlene's new basis for her shares after a stock split, it is essential to understand how stock splits affect the basis of shares owned. When a stock splits, the number of shares held by an investor increases, and the basis per share decreases accordingly.

In this scenario, Marlene had a certain number of shares that were affected by the stock split. After the split, the total basis remains the same, but it is now divided among the increased number of shares. The share basis is calculated by taking the original total basis and dividing it by the new total number of shares.

In this specific case, if Marlene ends up with four shares from the split, her total basis has been adjusted to ensure that while the number of shares is greater, the total investment remains unchanged. The selections show various potential basis amounts per share, but option D shows an effective reduction in per-share basis to correspond with the increase in shares resulting from the split.

Thus, option D reflects an accurate recalibration of Marlene's original basis distributed evenly across her new holdings, supporting the principle that the total original investment remains the same post-split while the per-share basis is proportionately lowered to account for the increased number of shares. This understanding is crucial