Any short term capital loss you may have that can't be applied to 2001 does indeed carry forward as long as necessary. You know that up to $3000 of capital losses can be deducted from ordinary income.

To check out what mutual fund distributions will be, check with the fund company. Fidelity is real good about giving estimates at www.fidelity.com. Vanguard will tell you if you call them; I looked for the information on their web site and didn't find it, but that was awhile ago.
Best wishes, Chris