A Sneak Peek at Clinton's Capital Gains Tax Plan?

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton suggested Monday that she may endorse lower capital gains taxes on long-held assets as a way to discourage a quick-profits mentality in the U.S. economy.

That could mean a sliding scale of tax rates on investments, offering a tax break to patient investors while continuing to subject the profits from fast trades to the highest marginal tax rates. Today's system, by contrast, features a preferential tax rate on assets held more than a year. But it makes no distinction beyond that. Gains on stocks held for 366 days are taxed at the same rate as those held 36 years.