6. Marketable Investment Securities, Restricted Cash and Cash Equivalents, and Other Investment Securities

Our marketable investment securities, restricted cash and cash equivalents, and other investment securities consisted of the following:

	As of December 31,
	2013		2012
	(In thousands)
Marketable investment securities:
Current marketable investment securities - VRDNs	$	116,570	$	130,306
Current marketable investment securities - strategic	534,449		1,261,015
Current marketable investment securities - other	4,388,363		2,240,316
Total current marketable investment securities	5,039,382		3,631,637
Restricted marketable investment securities (1)	81,371		51,366
Noncurrent marketable investment securities - ARS and other (2)	133,652		106,172
Total marketable investment securities	5,254,405		3,789,175

Restricted cash and cash equivalents (1)	13,490		82,277

Other investment securities:
Other investment securities - cost method (2)	17,621		12,879
Total other investment securities	17,621		12,879

Total marketable investment securities, restricted cash and cash equivalents, and other investment securities	$	5,285,516	$	3,884,331

(1) Restricted marketable investment securities and restricted cash and cash equivalents are included in “Restricted cash and marketable investment securities” on our Consolidated Balance Sheets.

(2) Noncurrent marketable investment securities — auction rate securities (“ARS”) and other investment securities are included in “Marketable and other investment securities” on our Consolidated Balance Sheets.

Marketable Investment Securities

Our marketable investment securities portfolio consists of various debt and equity instruments, all of which are classified as available-for-sale, except as specified below. See Note 2 for further discussion.

Current Marketable Investment Securities - VRDNs

Variable rate demand notes (“VRDNs”) are long-term floating rate municipal bonds with embedded put options that allow the bondholder to sell the security at par plus accrued interest. All of the put options are secured by a pledged liquidity source. Our VRDN portfolio is comprised mainly of investments in municipalities, which are backed by financial institutions or other highly rated obligors that serve as the pledged liquidity source. While they are classified as marketable investment securities, the put option allows VRDNs to be liquidated generally on a same day or on a five business day settlement basis.

Current Marketable Investment Securities — Strategic

Our current strategic marketable investment securities include strategic and financial debt and equity investments in public companies that are highly speculative and have experienced and continue to experience volatility. As of December 31, 2013, our strategic investment portfolio consisted of securities of a small number of issuers, and as a result the value of that portfolio depends, among other things, on the performance of those issuers. For example, a significant portion of the value of these investments was concentrated in the debt securities of Clearwire Corporation (“Clearwire”). The adjusted cost basis of these Clearwire debt securities as of December 31, 2013 and 2012 was $108 million and $751 million, respectively. This decrease primarily resulted from Clearwire debt securities which were sold during the fourth quarter 2013. The fair value of these Clearwire debt securities as of December 31, 2013 and 2012 was $186 million and $951 million, respectively. The fair value of certain of the debt and equity securities in our investment portfolio, including the debt securities of Clearwire, can be adversely impacted by, among other things, the issuers’ respective performance and ability to obtain any necessary additional financing on acceptable terms, or at all.

Current Marketable Investment Securities - Other

Our current marketable investment securities portfolio includes investments in various debt instruments including corporate and government bonds.

Restricted Cash and Marketable Investment Securities

As of December 31, 2013 and 2012, our restricted marketable investment securities, together with our restricted cash, included amounts required as collateral for our letters of credit or surety bonds and for litigation. During the first quarter 2013, we released $42 million of restricted cash related to litigation. See Note 16 for further information.

Noncurrent Marketable Investment Securities — ARS and Other Investment Securities

We have investments in ARS and other investment securities which are either classified as available-for-sale securities or are accounted for under the fair value method. Previous events in the credit markets reduced or eliminated current liquidity for certain of our ARS and other investment securities. As a result, we classify these investments as noncurrent assets, as we intend to hold these investments until they recover or mature.

The valuation of our ARS and other investment securities investments portfolio is subject to uncertainties that are difficult to estimate. Due to the lack of observable market quotes for identical assets, we utilize analyses that rely on Level 2 and/or Level 3 inputs, as defined in “Fair Value Measurements.” These inputs include, among other things, observed prices on similar assets as well as our assumptions and estimates related to the counterparty credit quality, default risk underlying the security and overall capital market liquidity. These securities were also compared, when possible, to other observable market data for financial instruments with similar characteristics.

Fair Value Election. As of December 31, 2013, our ARS and other noncurrent marketable investment securities portfolio of $134 million included $89 million of securities accounted for under the fair value method.

Other Investment Securities

We have strategic investments in certain debt and equity securities that are included in noncurrent “Marketable and other investment securities” on our Consolidated Balance Sheets and accounted for using the cost, equity and/or fair value methods of accounting.

Our ability to realize value from our strategic investments in companies that are not publicly traded depends on the success of those companies’ businesses and their ability to obtain sufficient capital, on acceptable terms or at all, and to execute their business plans. Because private markets are not as liquid as public markets, there is also increased risk that we will not be able to sell these investments, or that when we desire to sell them we will not be able to obtain fair value for them.

Unrealized Gains (Losses) on Marketable Investment Securities

As of December 31, 2013 and 2012, we had accumulated net unrealized gains of $181 million and $207 million, respectively. These amounts, net of related tax effect, were $178 million and $194 million, respectively. All of these amounts are included in “Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)” within “Total stockholders’ equity (deficit).” The components of our available-for-sale investments are summarized in the table below.

	As of December 31,
	2013										2012
	Marketable										Marketable
	Investment		Unrealized								Investment		Unrealized
	Securities		Gains		Losses			Net			Securities		Gains		Losses			Net
	(In thousands)
Debt securities:
VRDNs	$	116,570	$	—	$	—		$	—		$	130,306	$	—	$	—		$	—
ARS and other	45,030		1,188		(5,138		)	(3,950		)	43,921		1,375		(8,033		)	(6,658		)
ARS fair value election	88,622		—		—			—			62,251		—		—			—
Other (including restricted)	4,668,532		83,363		(4,741		)	78,622			3,287,317		208,208		(1,203		)	207,005
Equity securities	335,651		106,684		—			106,684			265,380		17,918		(11,537		)	6,381
Total	$	5,254,405	$	191,235	$	(9,879	)	$	181,356		$	3,789,175	$	227,501	$	(20,773	)	$	206,728

As of December 31, 2013, restricted and non-restricted marketable investment securities include debt securities of $4.340 billion with contractual maturities within one year, $359 million with contractual maturities extending longer than one year through and including five years, $2 million with contractual maturities extending longer than five years through and including ten years and $218 million with contractual maturities longer than ten years. Actual maturities may differ from contractual maturities as a result of our ability to sell these securities prior to maturity.

Marketable Investment Securities in a Loss Position

The following table reflects the length of time that the individual securities, accounted for as available-for-sale, have been in an unrealized loss position, aggregated by investment category. As of December 31, 2012, the unrealized losses on our investments in equity securities represented investments in broad-based indexes and companies in the telecommunications and technology industries. We are not aware of any specific factors which indicate the unrealized losses in these investments are due to anything other than temporary market fluctuations. As of December 31, 2013 and 2012, the unrealized losses on our investments in debt securities primarily represented investments in ARS and corporate bonds. We have the ability to hold and do not intend to sell our investments in these debt securities before they recover or mature, and it is more likely than not that we will hold these investments until that time. In addition, we are not aware of any specific factors indicating that the underlying issuers of these debt securities would not be able to pay interest as it becomes due or repay the principal at maturity. Therefore, we believe that these changes in the estimated fair values of these marketable investment securities are related to temporary market fluctuations.

	As of December 31,
	2013					2012
	Fair		Unrealized			Fair		Unrealized
	Value		Loss			Value		Loss
	(In thousands)
Debt Securities:
Less than 12 months	$	2,208,930	$	(3,106	)	$	761,551	$	(909	)
12 months or more	84,915		(6,773		)	72,395		(8,327		)
Equity Securities:
Less than 12 months	—		—			154,566		(11,537		)
12 months or more	—		—			—		—
Total	$	2,293,845	$	(9,879	)	$	988,512	$	(20,773	)

Fair Value Measurements

Our investments measured at fair value on a recurring basis were as follows:

	As of
	December 31, 2013								December 31, 2012
	Total		Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total		Level 1		Level 2		Level 3
	(In thousands)
Cash Equivalents (including restricted)	$	4,387,252	$	323,638	$	4,063,614	$	—	$	3,386,929	$	67,833	$	3,319,096	$	—

Debt securities:
VRDNs	$	116,570	$	—	$	116,570	$	—	$	130,306	$	—	$	130,306	$	—
ARS and other	133,652		—		678		132,974		106,172		—		955		105,217
Other (including restricted)	4,668,532		11,015		4,644,471		13,046		3,287,317		11,182		3,276,135		—

Equity securities	335,651		335,651		—		—		265,380		265,380		—		—

Subtotal	$	5,254,405	$	346,666	$	4,761,719	$	146,020	$	3,789,175	$	276,562	$	3,407,396	$	105,217

Derivative financial instruments	292,507		—		292,507		—		—		—		—		—

Total	$	5,546,912	$	346,666	$	5,054,226	$	146,020	$	3,789,175	$	276,562	$	3,407,396	$	105,217

As of December 31, 2013 and 2012, our Level 3 investments consisted predominately of ARS and other investment securities. On a quarterly basis we evaluate the reasonableness of significant unobservable inputs used in those measurements. The valuation models used for some of our ARS investments require an evaluation of the underlying instruments held by the trusts that issue these securities. For our other ARS and other investment securities, our evaluation uses, among other things, the terms of the underlying instruments, the credit ratings of the issuers, current market conditions, and other relevant factors. Based on these factors, we assess the risk of realizing expected cash flows and we apply an observable discount rate that reflects this risk. We may also reduce our valuations to reflect a liquidity discount based on the lack of an active market for these securities.

Changes in Level 3 instruments were as follows:

	Level 3 Investment Securities
	(In thousands)
Balance as of December 31, 2012	$	105,217
Net realized and unrealized gains (losses) included in earnings	26,532
Net realized and unrealized gains (losses) included in other comprehensive income (loss)	1,926
Purchases	14,158
Settlements	(1,813		)
Issuances	—
Transfers into or out of Level 3	—
Balance as of December 31, 2013	$	146,020

During the year ended December 31, 2013, we had no transfers in or out of Level 1 and Level 2 fair value measurements.

Gains and Losses on Sales and Changes in Carrying Values of Investments

“Other, net” within “Other Income (Expense)” included on our Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income (Loss) is as follows:

	For the Years Ended December 31,
Other Income (Expense):	2013			2012			2011
	(In thousands)
Marketable investment securities - gains (losses) on sales/exchanges	$	157,444		$	120,558		$	14,313
Marketable investment securities - unrealized gains (losses) on investments accounted for at fair value	26,371			1,331			263
Marketable investment securities - gains (losses) on conversion of DBSD North America Notes (1)	—			99,445			—
Other investment securities - gains (losses) on sales/exchanges	—			—			10,000
Derivative financial instruments - net realized gains (losses)	126,932			—			—
Derivative financial instruments - net unrealized gains (losses)	78,847			—			—
Marketable investment securities - other-than-temporary impairments	(1,919		)	(49,020		)	(16,557		)
Other	(2,819		)	1,383			221
Total	$	384,856		$	173,697		$	8,240

(1) During the year ended December 31, 2012, we recognized a $99 million non-cash gain related to the conversion of our DBSD North America 7.5% Convertible Senior Secured Notes due 2009 in connection with the completion of the DBSD Transaction.