(5) Financial Instruments and Fair Value Measurements

Financial Instruments

A financial instrument is cash or a contract that imposes an obligation to deliver, or conveys a right to receive cash or another financial instrument. The carrying values of cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable and accounts payable are considered to be representative of fair value because of the short maturity of these instruments.

Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities

On March 31, 2015, the Company had open foreign currency forward contracts which are used solely for hedging and not for speculative purposes. Management believes that its use of these instruments to reduce risk is in the Company's best interest. The counterparties to these financial instruments are financial institutions with investment grade credit ratings.

Foreign Currency Exchange Rate Risk

The Company conducts business internationally and therefore is exposed to foreign currency exchange rate risk. The Company uses derivative financial instruments as cash flow and fair value hedges to manage its exposure to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates by reducing the effect of such fluctuations on foreign currency denominated intercompany transactions, inventory purchases and other foreign currency exposures. The currencies hedged by the Company during 2015 and 2014 include the U.S. dollar, euro and Mexican peso.

These forward contracts were executed to hedge forecasted transactions and were accounted for as cash flow hedges. As such, the effective portion of the unrealized gain or loss was deferred and reported in the Company’s condensed consolidated balance sheets as a component of accumulated other comprehensive loss. The cash flow hedges were highly effective. The effectiveness of the transactions has been and will be measured on an ongoing basis using regression analysis and forecasted future purchases of the U.S. dollar and Mexican peso.

In certain instances, the foreign currency forward contracts do not qualify for hedge accounting or are not designated as hedges, and therefore are marked-to-market with gains and losses recognized in the Company's condensed consolidated statement of operations as a component of other (income) expense, net.

The Company's foreign currency forward contracts offset a portion of the gains and losses on the underlying foreign currency denominated transactions as follows:

Euro-denominated Foreign Currency Forward Contract

As of March 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014, the Company held a foreign currency forward contract with underlying notional amounts of $1,631 and $3,523, respectively, to reduce the exposure related to the Company's euro-denominated intercompany loans. This contract expires in June 2015. The euro-denominated foreign currency forward contract was not designated as a hedging instrument. The Company recognized a gain of $388 and a loss of $61 for the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively, in the condensed consolidated statements of operations as a component of other expense, net related to the euro-denominated contracts.

U.S. dollar-denominated Foreign Currency Forward Contracts – Cash Flow Hedge

The Company entered into on behalf of one of its European Electronics subsidiaries whose functional currency is the euro, U.S. dollar-denominated currency contracts with a notional amount at March 31, 2015 of $3,205 which expire ratably on a monthly basis from April 2015 through December 2015, compared to $4,266 at December 31, 2014.

The Company entered into on behalf of one of its European Electronics subsidiaries whose functional currency is the Swedish krona, U.S. dollar-denominated currency contracts with a notional amount at March 31, 2015 of $8,801 which expire ratably on a monthly basis from April 2015 through December 2015, compared to $11,718 at December 31, 2014.

Mexican peso-denominated Foreign Currency Forward Contracts – Cash Flow Hedge

The Company holds Mexican peso-denominated foreign currency forward contracts with notional amounts at March 31, 2015 of $7,790 which expire ratably on a monthly basis from April 2015 through December 2015, compared to $10,282 at December 31, 2014.

Commodity Price Risk - Cash Flow Hedge

To mitigate the risk of future price volatility and, consequently, fluctuations in gross margins, the Company entered into fixed price commodity contracts with a financial institution to fix the cost of a portion of the Company’s copper purchases. Copper is a raw material used in many of the Company’s products.

The Company did not have any fixed price commodity contracts at March 31, 2015 compared to an aggregate notional amount of 317 pounds at December 31, 2014.

The unrealized gain or loss for the effective portion of the hedges were deferred and reported in the Company’s condensed consolidated balance sheets as a component of accumulated other comprehensive loss while the ineffective portion, if any, was reported in the condensed consolidated statements of operations. The effectiveness of the transactions is measured on an ongoing basis using regression analysis and forecasted future copper purchases. Based upon the results of the regression analysis, the Company has concluded that these cash flow hedges were highly effective.

Interest Rate Risk - Fair Value Hedge

The Company had a fixed-to-floating interest rate swap agreement (the “Swap”) with a notional amount of $45,000 to hedge its exposure to fair value fluctuations on a portion of its senior notes. The Swap was designated as a fair value hedge of the fixed interest rate obligation under the Company's $175,000 9.5% senior notes due October 15, 2017. Under the Swap, the Company paid a variable interest rate equal to the six-month London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) plus 7.2% and it received a fixed interest rate of 9.5%. The difference between amounts received and paid under the Swap was recognized as a component of interest expense, net on the condensed consolidated statements of operations.

In connection with the Company’s notice of redemption issued on September 15, 2014 to redeem all remaining outstanding senior notes, the interest rate fair value hedge was de-designated on that date. On October 23, 2014, the Company terminated the interest rate swap.

The Swap reduced interest expense by $225 for the three months ended March 31, 2014.

The notional amounts and fair values of derivative instruments in the condensed consolidated balance sheets were as follows:


			Prepaid expenses
		Notional	and other current assets /		Accrued expenses and
	Amounts (A)		other long-term assets		other current liabilities
	March 31,	December 31,	March 31,	December 31,	March 31,	December 31,
	2015	2014	2015	2014	2015	2014
Derivatives designated as hedging instruments
Cash Flow Hedges:
Forward currency contracts	$ 19,796	$ 26,266	$ 1,510	$ 479	$ 574	$ 478

Derivatives not designated as hedging instruments
Forward currency contracts	$ 1,631	$ 3,523	-	-	$ 5	$ 13
Fixed price commodity contracts	-	317	-	-	-	$ 69


(A)	Notional amounts represent the gross contract / notional amount of the derivatives outstanding. The fixed price commodity contract notional amounts are in pounds.

Amounts recorded for the cash flow hedges in other comprehensive income (loss) and in net income for the three months ended March 31 are as follows:


	Gain (loss) recorded in other comprehensive income (loss)				Gain (loss) reclassified from other comprehensive income (loss) into net income
	2015		2014		2015		2014
Derivatives designated as cash flow hedges:
Forward currency contracts	$	797	$	118	$	(138)	$	(181)
Fixed price commodity contracts		-		(472)		-		(30)
Total derivatives designated as cash flow hedges	$	797	$	(354)	$	(138)	$	(211)

Gains and losses reclassified from other comprehensive income (loss) into net income were recognized in cost of goods sold in the Company's condensed consolidated statements of operations.

The net deferred gain of $936 on the cash flow hedge derivatives will be reclassified from other comprehensive income (loss) to the condensed consolidated statements of operations in 2015. The Company has measured the ineffectiveness of the forward currency and commodity contracts and any amounts recognized in the condensed consolidated financial statements were immaterial for the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014.

Fair Value Measurements

The following table presents our assets and liabilities that are measured at fair value on a recurring basis and are categorized using the three levels of the fair value hierarchy based on the reliability of the inputs used.


	March 31,								December 31,
	2015								2014
	Fair values estimated using
			Level 1		Level 2		Level 3
	Fair value		inputs (A)		inputs (B)		inputs (C)		Fair value

Financial assets carried at fair value:
Interest rate swap contract	$	-	$	-	$	-	$	-	$	-

Forward currency contracts	$	1,510	$	-	$	1,510	$	-	$	479

Total financial assets carried at fair value	$	1,510	$	-	$	1,510	$	-	$	479

Financial liabilities carried at fair value:
Forward currency contracts	$	579	$	-	$	579	$	-	$	491
Fixed price commodity contracts		-		-		-		-		69

Total financial liabilities carried at fair value	$	579	$	-	$	579	$	-	$	560


(A)	Fair values estimated using Level 1 inputs, which consist of quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities that the Company has the ability to access at the measurement date. The Company did not have any recurring fair value estimates using Level 1 inputs at March 31, 2015 or December 31, 2014.

(B)	Fair values estimated using Level 2 inputs, other than quoted prices, that are observable for the asset or liability, either directly or indirectly and include among other things, quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in markets that are active or inactive as well as inputs other than quoted prices that are observable. For forward currency and fixed price commodity, inputs include foreign currency exchange rates and commodity indexes.

(C)	Fair values estimated using Level 3 inputs consist of significant unobservable inputs. The Company did not have any recurring fair value estimates using Level 3 inputs at March 31, 2015 or December 31, 2014.