For some reason I can't find a definitive answer to this seemingly simple question! Hopefully I can get some help from one of you tax pros.

I opened a brokerage account on eTrade by transferring money from my bank checking account to buy and sell stocks. The money isn't in an IRA, just plain brokerage account. I've bought/sold several times and the money is still in the brokerage account. Some of it is in the form of cash and some is still invested in various stocks. My question is, do I need to claim the capital gains if I haven't transferred it back to my checking account?

Thanks in advance!