Note 2 - Cash and Cash Equivalents and Short-term Investments

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2012

Cash, Cash Equivalents, and Short-term Investments [Text Block]

2. 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 September 30, 2012, $704,000 of cash and cash equivalents were fully insured by the FDIC under its standard maximum deposit insurance amount guidelines. At September 30, 2012, cash and cash equivalents included $3.9 million belonging to majority-owned joint ventures consolidated in these financial statements, which generally cannot be used for purposes outside the joint ventures.

Short-term investments include mutual funds and government bonds which are considered available-for-sale securities and measured at fair value as required under applicable GAAP. These government bonds have maturity dates of 2013-2046. At September 30, 2012 and December 31, 2011, the Company had short-term investments as follows (in thousands):

	September 30, 2012
	Total Fair Value		Level 1		Level 2		Gross Unrealized Gains (pre-tax)		Gross Unrealized Losses (pre-tax)
Mutual funds	$	31,779	$	31,779	$	--	$	487	$	--
Municipal bonds		21,675		--		21,675		984		62
Total securities available-for-sale	$	53,454	$	31,779	$	21,675	$	1,471	$	62

	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

The amortized cost basis of the above securities at September 30, 2012 and December 31, 2011 was $52.2 million and $44.3 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 $20.4 million and $19.4 million at September 30, 2012 and December 31, 2011, respectively.

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 in stockholders’ equity, net of tax, as the gains and losses may be temporary. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2012, total proceeds from sales of short-term investments were $7.7 million and $22.4 million with gross realized gains of $163,000 and $663,000, respectively, and gross realized losses of $0 for both periods. Accumulated other comprehensive income at September 30, 2012 included unrealized gains (losses) on short-term investments of $1.4 million less the associated taxes of $492,000. Upon the sale of short-term investments, the cost basis used to determine the gain or loss is based on the specific identification of the security sold. All items included in accumulated other comprehensive income are at the corporate level, and no portion is attributable to noncontrolling interests.

For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2012 and 2011, the Company earned interest income of $432,000 and $1.1 million, and $309,000 and $1.3 million, respectively, on its cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments.