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Significant Accounting Policies

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2012

Basis of Presentation and Significant Accounting Policies [Text Block]

2. Significant Accounting Policies

Basis of presentation

The accompanying unaudited financial statements and related notes have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America for interim financial statements and with the rules and regulations under Regulation S-X of the Securities and Exchange Commission for Form 10-Q. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America for complete financial statements presentation. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring accruals) considered necessary to present fairly the financial position as of June 30, 2012 and the results of operations for the six months and three months then ended and cash flows for the six months then ended have been included. These financial statements should be read in conjunction with the financial statements of the Company and the Company’s management discussion and analysis included in the Company’s Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011. Interim results are not necessarily indicative of the results for a full year.

Use of estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and revenues and expenses for the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

Cash and cash equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents include checking and money market accounts held in two financial institutions. The Company has a checking account at one institution with a balance of approximately $16,000 at June 30, 2012. The funds in this account are fully guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) as of June 30, 2012. The Company has a money market account in a brokerage account with a second financial institution, with a money market cash balance of approximately $227,000 at June 30, 2012. Assets in this brokerage account are protected by the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (“SIPC”) up to $500,000. The Company had no uninsured cash and cash equivalents at June 30, 2012.

Stock-Based Compensation

Compensation costs for stock, warrants or options issued to employees and non-employees are based on the fair value method and accounted for in accordance with FASB ASC 718, “ Compensation – Stock Compensation .” The value of warrants and options are calculated using a Black-Scholes Model, using the market price of the Company’s common stock on the date of issuance for the employee options and the date of commitment for non-employee options, an expected dividend yield of zero, the expected life of the warrants or options and the expected volatility of the Company’s common stock. The Company expects the options to fully vest and the forfeiture rate to be zero.

Investment in Available-for-Sale Securities

The Company has a portfolio of investments in available-for-sale debt securities, which consist of fixed income debt securities and equity securities, which are accounted for in accordance with Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 320, “Investments - Debt and Equity Securities.” Management determines the appropriate classification of the securities at the time they are acquired and evaluates the appropriateness of such classifications at each balance sheet date. Available-for-sale securities are stated at fair value, and unrealized holding gains and losses, net of the related deferred tax effect, if any, are reported as other comprehensive income, a separate component of stockholders’ equity.

Fair Value Measurement

FASB ASC 820 “Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures” clarifies that fair value is an exit price, representing the amount that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants. As such, fair value is a market-based measurement that is determined based on assumptions that market participants would use in pricing an asset or a liability. As a basis for considering such assumptions, FASB ASC 820 establishes a three-tier value hierarchy, which prioritizes the inputs used in the valuation methodologies in measuring fair value:

Level 1 - Observable inputs that reflect quoted prices (unadjusted) for identical assets or liabilities in active markets.

Level 2 - Include other inputs that are directly or indirectly observable in the marketplace.

Level 3 - Unobservable inputs which are supported by little or no market activity.

The fair value hierarchy also requires an entity to maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs when measuring fair value.

In accordance with FASB ASC 820, the Company measures its cash equivalents, investments in available-for-sale securities, derivative liability and investment in ClearSign at fair value. The Company’s cash equivalents and investments in available-for-sale securities are classified within Level 1 by using quoted market prices. The Company’s derivative liability is classified within Level 3.

The carrying value of other current assets and liabilities are considered to be representative of their respective fair values because of the short-term nature of those instruments.

ASC 825 “Financial Instruments” permits entities to choose to measure at fair value many financial instruments and certain other items that had previously not been required to be measured at fair value. Subsequent changes in fair value for designated items are required to be reported in earnings in the current period. FASB ASC 825 also establishes presentation and disclosure requirements for similar types of assets and liabilities measured at fair value.

Income Taxes

Deferred income taxes have been provided for temporary differences between financial statement and income tax reporting under the liability method, using expected tax rates and laws that are expected to be in effect when the differences are expected to reverse. A valuation allowance is provided when realization is not considered more likely than not.

The Company applies the provisions of FASB ASC 740, “Income Taxes.” ASC 740 clarifies the accounting for uncertainty in income taxes recognized in the Company’s financial statements in accordance with ASC 740, “Income Taxes,” and prescribes a recognition threshold and measurement process for financial statement recognition and measurement of a tax position taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. ASC 740 also provides guidance on de-recognition, classification, interest and penalties, accounting in interim periods, disclosure and transition.

The Company’s policy is to classify expenses as a result of income tax assessments as interest expense for interest charges and as penalties in general and administrative expenses for penalty assessments.

Cost-Basis Method Valuation

The Company’s non-marketable equity investment was previously recorded using the cost-basis method of accounting, and was classified as a long-term asset on the accompanying balance sheet as permitted by FASB ASC 325, “Cost Method Investments”, as the Company owned less than 20% of the voting securities and did not have the ability to exercise significant influence over operating and financial policies of the entity. During the three months ended June 30, 2012, the Company distributed a majority of this investment to its stockholders and reclassified the remaining shares as available-for-sale securities. During the same period, the investee’s stock became publicly traded and its fair value became readily available. Therefore, as of June 30, 2012, the shares held by the Company have been accounted for in accordance with FASB ASC 320, “Investment – Debt and Equity Securities”. See Note 5, “Investment in ClearSign” for more information.

Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements

In May 2011, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued Accounting Standards Update 2011-04, “Fair Value Measurement” (Topic 820): Amendments to Achieve Common Fair Value Measurement and Disclosure Requirements in U.S. GAAP and IFRSs. This guidance amends the disclosure requirements related to recurring and nonrecurring fair value measurements and includes the following provisions: application of the concepts of highest and best use and valuation premise, introduction of an option to measure groups of offsetting assets and liabilities on a net basis, incorporation of certain premiums and discounts in fair value measurements, and the measurement of fair value of certain instruments classified in shareholders’ equity. In addition, the amended guidance includes several new fair value disclosure requirements, including, among other things, information about valuation techniques and unobservable inputs used in Level 3 fair value measurements and a narrative description of Level 3 measurements’ sensitivity to changes in unobservable inputs. The guidance became effective for the reporting period beginning January 1, 2012. The Company expects that adoption of this new guidance will not have a material impact on the Company’s financial statements.

In June 2011, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update 2011-05, “Comprehensive Income” (Topic 220): Presentation of Comprehensive Income. This amended guidance eliminates the option for reporting entities to present components of other comprehensive income in the statement of stockholders’ equity. Instead, this amended guidance now requires reporting entities to present all non-owner changes in stockholders’ equity either as a single continuous statement of comprehensive income or as two separate but consecutive statements. The guidance became effective for the reporting period beginning December 15, 2011. Early adoption is permitted. The Company adopted this accounting standard for the reporting period ending December 31, 2011 and it did not have a material impact on the Company’s financial statements. Subsequently in December 2011, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2011-12, “Deferral of the Effective Date for Amendments to the Presentation of Reclassifications of Items Out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income” (“ASU No. 2011-12”), which indefinitely defers the requirement in ASU No. 2011-05 to present on the face of the financial statements reclassification adjustments for items that are reclassified from other comprehensive income to net income in the statement(s) where the components of net income and the components of other comprehensive income are presented. The amendments in these standards do not change the items that must be reported in other comprehensive income, when an item of other comprehensive income must be reclassified to net income, or change the option for an entity to present components of other comprehensive income gross or net of the effect of income taxes. The amendments in ASU No. 2011-12 are effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2011 and are to be applied retrospectively. The adoption of the provisions of ASU No. 2011-12 did not have a material impact on the Company’s financial position or results of operations.

Recently Announced Accounting Pronouncements

Management does not believe that any other recently issued, but not yet effective accounting pronouncements, if adopted, would have a material effect on the accompanying financial statements.