Note 4 - Cash and Cash Equivalents and Short-term Investments

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2014

Disclosure Text Block Supplement [Abstract]

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

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. Cash and cash equivalents include cash balances held by our wholly-owned subsidiaries as well as the Company’s VIE.

The Company holds cash on deposit in U.S. banks, at times, in excess of federally insured limits. Management does not believe that the risk associated with keeping cash deposits in excess of federal deposit insurance limits represents a material risk.

At December 31, 2014 and 2013, the Company had no short-term investments.

At December 31, 2014, there were no cash and cash equivalents belonging to majority-owned joint ventures that are consolidated in these financial statements. At December 31, 2013, cash and cash equivalents included $0.4 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.

Gains and losses realized on short-term investment securities are included in “Gains on sale of securities” 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 year ended December 31, 2013 and 2012, total proceeds from sales of short-term investments were $49.9 million and $26.7 million, respectively, with gross realized gains of $0.7 million and $0.8 million, respectively, and gross realized losses of $0.6 million and $0, respectively. Accumulated other comprehensive income at December 31, 2013 included no unrealized gains on short-term investments and $1.1 million at December 31, 2012. Upon the sale of short-term investments, the cost basis used to determine the gain or loss 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.

At each reporting date, the Company performs separate evaluations of impaired debt and equity securities to determine if the unrealized losses are other-than-temporary. The evaluations include a number of factors, including but not limited to, the length of time and extent to which the fair value has been less than cost, the financial condition and near-term prospects of the issuer, and management’s ability and intent to hold the securities until fair value recovers. The assessment of the ability and intent to hold these securities to recovery focuses primarily on liquidity needs and securities portfolio objectives. At December 31, 2014 and 2013, the Company had no short-term investments; thus no evaluation was required.

The Company earned interest income of $0.6 million and $1.5 million for the years ended December 31, 2013 and 2012, respectively, on its cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments. These amounts are recorded in “interest income” in the Company’s consolidated statement of operations.