Fair Value Measurements

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2011

FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS

Fair value is defined as the exchange price that would be received for an asset or paid to transfer a liability (an exit price) in the principal or most advantageous market for the asset or liability in an orderly transaction between market participants on the measurement date. Valuation techniques used to measure fair value must maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs. The Company uses fair value hierarchy based on three levels of inputs, of which the first two are considered observable and the last unobservable, to measure fair value:


•	Level 1—Quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.


•	Level 2—Inputs other than Level 1 that are observable, either directly or indirectly, such as quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities; quoted prices in markets that are not active; or other inputs that are observable or can be corroborated by observable market data for substantially the full term of the assets or liabilities.


•	Level 3—Unobservable inputs that are supported by little or no market activity and that are significant to the fair value of the assets or liabilities.

The following table represents the Company’s fair value hierarchy for its financial assets measured at fair value on a recurring basis and its classification on the balance sheet as of September 30, 2011:



	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total		Cash Equivalents		Investments
Financial Assets:
U.S. government securities	$	—	$	10,105,361	$	—	$	10,105,361	$	—	$	10,105,361
Municipal bonds	—		2,625,514		—		2,625,514		—		2,625,514
Money market funds	1,160,391		—		—		1,160,391		1,160,391		—
Corporate securities	—		4,498,151		—		4,498,151		—		4,498,151
	$	1,160,391	$	17,229,026	$	—	$	18,389,417	$	1,160,391	$	17,229,026

As of the balance sheet date, the Company held securities issued by U.S. government agencies (AA+/Aaa/AAA ratings), municipalities (AA/Aa2/Aa3/AA- ratings) and A-1/A-1+ rated corporate notes. Approximately $17.2 million of these securities are classified as Level 2 because the Company does not believe that it is possible to obtain a firm, up-to-date price of such securities from, for example, a major exchange; and as a result, the Company relies on its brokerage firm and investment manager to report its fair value of such securities at the end of each month. Investments have not been transferred between levels.

In addition to the items measured at fair value on a recurring basis, the Company also measured certain assets at fair value on a nonrecurring basis. As a result of an impairment analysis, the Company recorded an impairment loss of $78.0 million to write down its long-lived assets to fair value at June 30, 2011 (See Note 10. Impairment for additional information). These fair value measurements rely primarily on Company-specific inputs and the Company’s assumptions about the use of the assets, as observable inputs are not available. Accordingly, the Company determined that these fair value measurements reside primarily within Level 3 of the fair value hierarchy.

- Definition

Tabular disclosure of the fair value measurement of assets and liabilities which includes [financial] instruments measured at fair value that are classified in stockholders' equity. Such assets and liabilities may be measured on a recurring or nonrecurring basis. The disclosures which may be required or desired include: (1) for assets and liabilities measured on a recurring basis, disclosure may include: (a) the fair value measurements at the reporting date; (b) the level within the fair value hierarchy in which the fair value measurements in their entirety fall, segregating fair value measurements using quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1), significant other observable inputs (Level 2), and significant unobservable inputs (Level 3); (c) for fair value measurements using significant unobservable inputs (Level 3), a reconciliation of the beginning and ending balances, separately presenting changes during the period attributable to the following: (i) total gains or losses for the period (realized and unrealized), segregating those gains or losses included in earnings (or changes in net assets), and a description of where those gains or losses included in earnings (or changes in net assets) are reported in the statement of income (or activities); (ii) purchases, sales, issuances, and settlements (net); (iii) transfers in and transfers out of Level 3 (for example, transfers due to changes in the observability of significant inputs); (d) the amount of the total gains or losses for the period in subparagraph (c) (i) above included in earnings (or changes in net assets) that are attributable to the change in unrealized gains or losses relating to those assets and liabilities still held at the reporting date and a description of where those unrealized gains or losses are reported in the statement of income (or activities); (e) the valuation technique(s) used to measure fair value and a discussion of changes in valuation techniques, if any, during the period and (2) for assets and liabilities that are measured at fair value on a nonrecurring basis (for example, impaired assets) disclosure may include, in addition to (a) above: (a) the reasons for the fair value measurements recorded; (b) the same as (b) above; (c) for fair value measurements using significant unobservable inputs (Level 3), a description of the inputs and the information used to develop the inputs; and (d) the valuation technique(s) used to measure fair value and a discussion of changes, if any, in the valuation technique(s) used to measure similar assets and/or liabilities in prior periods. Where the quoted price in an active market for the identical liability is not available, the Level 1 input is the quoted price of an identical liability when traded as an asset.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 820

-SubTopic 10

-Section 50

-Paragraph 3

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6925170&loc=d3e19279-110258

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)

-Number 157

-Paragraph 32

-LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)

-Number 157

-Paragraph 33

-LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.

Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)

-Number 107

-Paragraph 10

-LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.

Reference 5: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 820

-SubTopic 10

-Section 50

-Paragraph 5

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6925170&loc=d3e19296-110258

Reference 6: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 820

-SubTopic 10

-Section 50

-Paragraph 2

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6925170&loc=d3e19207-110258

Reference 7: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)

-Number 157

-Paragraph 6

-Footnote 4

-LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.

Reference 8: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 820

-SubTopic 10

-Section 50

-Paragraph 1

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6925170&loc=d3e19190-110258

+ Details