2. The "12 month" rule is either a rule of the custodian (the company where the account is kept), not the government, or a rule limiting how often you can move the account from one custodian to another. The government does not limit how often you can buy and sell shares within the account.

3. You cannot claim any capital loss for a Roth IRA while you still have a Roth IRA. If balance in the Roth goes all the way to zero, either because of withdrawals or really bad investing, then you can close it and claim a loss. However, if you withdraw money to achieve this result, then the tax penalties for the withdrawal (which is called a distribution) may exceed the tax benefits of the loss.