My understanding is that he can still count these losses towards the cost basis of the stocks, so it's not like the money is gone - just absorbed into the capit

My understanding is that he can still count these losses towards the cost basis of the stocks, so it's not like the money is gone - just absorbed into the capital gains that will be calculated when he does sell. And if he had sold these >= 30 days before the end of the year, he would have been able to claim the losses on this year's taxes. Edit: all that to say, I agree that it's clickbait.