4. Cash and Cash Equivalents and Short-term Investments

The Company considers all highly liquid investments with original or remaining maturities of three months or less at the time of purchase to be cash equivalents. At December 31, 2011, approximately $2.3 million of cash and cash equivalents were fully insured by the FDIC under its standard maximum deposit insurance amount guidelines. At December 31, 2011, cash and cash equivalents included $13.1 million belonging to majority-owned joint ventures that are consolidated in these financial statements which generally cannot be used for purposes outside such joint ventures.

The Company includes certificates of deposit with a remaining maturity of 90 days or less at purchase in “Cash and cash equivalents.” All other short-term investments are included in “Short-term investments.” Mutual funds, government bonds and exchange traded funds are considered available-for-sale securities. Government bonds have maturity dates of 2014-2041. At December 31, 2011 and 2010, the Company had short-term investments as follows (in thousands):

	December 31, 2011
	Total Fair Value		Level 1		Level 2		Gross Unrealized Gains (pre-tax)		Gross Unrealized Losses (pre-tax)
Mutual funds	$	24,851	$	24,851	$	--	$	383	$	--
Municipal bonds		20,004		--		20,004		617		15
Total securities available-for-sale	$	44,855	$	24,851	$	20,004	$	1,000	$	15

	December 31, 2010
	Total Fair Value		Level 1		Level 2		Gross Unrealized Gains (pre-tax)		Gross Unrealized Losses (pre-tax)
Mutual funds	$	31,992	$	31,992	$	--	$	2	$	189
Exchange traded funds		3,510		3,510		--		13		36
Total securities available-for-sale		35,502	$	35,502	$		$	15	$	225
Certificates of deposit with original maturities between 90 and 365 days		250
Total short-term investments	$	35,752

The amortized cost basis of the above securities at December 31, 2011 and 2010 was $44.3 million and $35.7 million, respectively. Municipal bond securities are the only securities held by the Company where fair value does not equal amortized cost. The amortized cost for municipal bond securities was $19.4 million in 2011. There were no municipal bonds held by the Company in 2010.

The valuation inputs for Levels 1, 2 and 3 are as follows:

Level 1 Inputs - Valuation based upon quoted prices for identical assets in active markets that the Company has the ability to access at the measurement date.

Level 2 Inputs – Based upon quoted prices (other than Level 1) in active markets for similar assets, quoted prices for identical or similar assets in markets that are not active, inputs other than quoted prices that are observable for the asset such as interest rates, yield curves, volatilities and default rates and inputs that are derived principally from or corroborated by observable market data.

Level 3 Inputs – Based on unobservable inputs reflecting the Company's own assumptions about the assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset based on the best information available.

The Company had no short-term investments valued with Level 3 inputs at either of the balance sheet dates.

Gains and losses realized on short-term investment securities are included in “Gains (losses) on sale of securities and other” in the accompanying statements of operations. Unrealized gains (losses) on short-term investments are included in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) in stockholders' equity, net of tax, as the gains and losses may be temporary. At December 31, 2011, the unrealized gains (losses) on short-term investments included in accumulated other comprehensive income, excluding taxes of $345,000, was $985,000. Upon the sale of short-term investments, the average cost basis is used to determine the gain or loss. All items included in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) are at the corporate level, and no portion is attributable to noncontrolling interests.

For the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009, the Company recorded interest income of $1.7 million, $1.8 million and $0.6 million, respectively.