FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2015

Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities Disclosure [Abstract]

FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS

FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS

The Company uses derivative financial instruments to manage its exposure to market risks for changes in interest rates and, from time to time, foreign currencies. This strategy includes the use of interest rate swap agreements, forward starting interest rate swap agreements, treasury lock agreements and foreign currency forward contracts to manage its exposure to movements in interest and currency rates. The Company has established policies and procedures for risk assessment and the approval, reporting and monitoring of derivative financial instrument activities. These policies prohibit holding or issuing derivative financial instruments for speculative purposes. The Company does not enter into derivative financial instruments that contain credit-risk-related contingent features or requirements to post collateral.

Interest Rate Risk

The Company is exposed to interest rate risk on its cash and cash equivalents and its debt obligations. Interest income earned on cash and cash equivalents may fluctuate as interest rates change; however, due to their relatively short maturities, the Company does not hedge these assets or their investment cash flows and the impact of interest rate risk is not material. The Company's debt obligations consist of fixed-rate and variable-rate debt instruments. The Company's primary objective is to achieve the lowest overall cost of funding while managing the variability in cash outflows within an acceptable range. In order to achieve this objective, the Company has entered into interest rate swaps. Interest rate swaps involve the periodic exchange of payments without the exchange of underlying principal or notional amounts. Net settlements between the counterparties are recognized as an adjustment to interest expense.

Interest Rate Derivatives – Cash Flow Hedges

From time to time, the Company has entered into various interest rate lock agreements and forward starting interest rate swap agreements to hedge part of the Company's interest rate exposure associated with the variability in future cash flows attributable to changes in interest rates.

During the fourth quarter of 2013 and first quarter of 2014, the Company entered into various forward starting interest rate swap agreements for an aggregate notional amount of $150 million which were accounted for as cash flow hedges. In connection with the issuance of the 2015 Senior Notes, all of these agreements were settled and the Company paid $17 million. These losses are deferred in stockholders’ equity, net of income taxes, as a component of accumulated other comprehensive loss, and amortized as an adjustment to interest expense over the term of the Senior Notes due 2025.

In March 2015, the Company entered into interest rate lock agreements with several financial institutions for a total notional amount of $350 million which were accounted for as cash flow hedges. These agreements were entered into to hedge a portion of the Company’s interest rate exposure associated with variability in future cash flows attributable to changes in the five-year, ten-year and thirty-year treasury rates related to the planned issuance of the 2015 Senior Notes. In connection with the issuance of the 2015 Senior Notes, these agreements were settled and the Company received $3 million. These gains are deferred in stockholders’ equity, net of income taxes, as a component of accumulated other comprehensive loss, and amortized as an adjustment to interest expense over the term of the respective senior notes.

The total net loss, net of taxes, recognized in accumulated other comprehensive loss, related to the Company's cash flow hedges as of June 30, 2015 and December 31, 2014 was $13 million and $15 million, respectively. The loss recognized on the Company's cash flow hedges for the three and six months ended June 30, 2015 and 2014, as a result of ineffectiveness, was not material. The net amount of deferred losses on cash flow hedges that is expected to be reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive loss into interest expense, net within the next twelve months is $3 million.

Interest Rate Derivatives – Fair Value Hedges

The Company maintains various fixed-to-variable interest rate swaps to convert a portion of the Company's long-term debt into variable interest rate debt. A summary of the notional amounts of these interest rate swaps as of June 30, 2015 and December 31, 2014 is as follows:

		Notional Amount
Debt Instrument	Floating Rate Paid by the Company	June 30, 2015		December 31, 2014
3.20% Senior Notes due April 2016	Six-month LIBOR plus a 2.3% spread	$	—	$	200
4.75% Senior Notes due January 2020	One-month LIBOR plus a 3.6% spread	350		350
4.70% Senior Notes due April 2021	One-month LIBOR plus a 2.45% to 3.39% spread	400		400
4.25% Senior Notes due April 2024	One-month LIBOR plus a 1.54% to 1.59% spread	250		250
3.50% Senior Notes due March 2025	One-month LIBOR plus a 1.44% spread	200		—
		$	1,200	$	1,200

In April 2015, the Company terminated the outstanding interest rate swaps associated with the Senior Notes due 2016. The value of these interest rate swaps at the date of termination was not material. The net amount of losses on fair value hedges related to the Senior Notes due 2016 reclassified into earnings upon redemption for the three and six months ended June 30, 2015 was not material.    

Since inception, the fair value hedges have been effective or highly effective; therefore, there is no impact on earnings for the three and six months ended June 30, 2015 and 2014 as a result of hedge ineffectiveness.

Interest Rate Derivatives - Economic Hedges

In March 2015, in connection with the cash tender offer and redemption discussed in Note 9, the Company entered into reverse interest rate lock agreements with several financial institutions which were not designated for hedge accounting. The Company entered into these agreements to hedge the variability in cash flows associated with $280 million of the $1.3 billion principal amount of debt that was retired in the first and second quarters of 2015. Certain of these agreements were settled during the first quarter of 2015 which resulted in a gain of $3 million which was recognized in other (expense) income, net. The remaining agreements were settled in the second quarter of 2015 and the gain for the period ended June 30, 2015 was not material.

A summary of the fair values of derivative instruments in the consolidated balance sheets is stated in the table below:

	June 30, 2015				December 31, 2014
	Balance Sheet Classification	Fair Value			Balance Sheet Classification	Fair Value
Derivatives Designated as Hedging Instruments
Asset Derivatives:
Interest rate swaps	Other assets	$	15		Other assets	$	17
Liability Derivatives:
Interest rate swaps	Other liabilities	12			Other liabilities	13
Forward starting interest rate swaps		—			Other liabilities	15
Total Liability Derivatives		12				28
Derivatives Not Designated as Hedging Instruments
Asset Derivatives:
Put option		—			Prepaid expenses and other current assets	1
Liability Derivatives:
Call option	Accounts payable and accrued expenses	4			Accounts payable and accrued expenses	5
Total Net Derivatives (Liabilities)		$	(1	)		$	(15	)

A full description regarding the Company's use of derivative financial instruments is contained in Note 14 to the consolidated financial statements in the Company's 2014 Annual Report on Form 10-K.