Note 8 - Investments in Marketable Securities

6 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2015

Notes to Financial Statements

Investments in Debt and Marketable Equity Securities (and Certain Trading Assets) Disclosure [Text Block]

Note 8 - Investments in Marketable Securities

Investments in marketable securities categorized as “available-for-sale” are stated at fair value. The Company uses quoted prices in active markets for identical assets (consistent with the Level 1 definition in the fair value hierarchy) to measure the fair value of its investments on a recurring basis pursuant to ASC 820,

Fair Value Measurement

. As of March 31, 2015 and September 30, 2014, an unrealized gain of $117,948,000 and $125,700,000, respectively, was recorded net of taxes of $45,590,000 and $48,896,000, respectively, in “Accumulated other comprehensive income” in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets. Most of the unrealized gains were in the common stocks of three U.S. financial institutions.

9

Investments in equity securities and securities with fixed maturity as of March 31, 2015 and September 30, 2014 are summarized below.

	Investments
	March 31, 2015						September 30, 2014
	(Unaudited)
	Aggregate fair value		Amortized/Adjusted cost basis		Pretax unrealized gains		Aggregate fair value		Amortized/Adjusted cost basis		Pretax unrealized gains
Marketable securities
Common stocks	$	164,589,000	$	49,980,000	$	114,609,000	$	165,734,000	$	43,042,000	$	122,692,000
Bonds		8,276,000		4,937,000		3,339,000		7,942,000		4,934,000		3,008,000
Total	$	172,865,000	$	54,917,000	$	117,948,000	$	173,676,000	$	47,976,000	$	125,700,000

All investments are classified as “Current assets” because they are available for sale at any time. The bonds mature in 2039.

As of

March 31, 2015, the Company perform

ed separate evaluations for impaired equity securities to determine if the unrealized losses

were other-than-temporary. This evaluation

considers a number of factors including, but not limited to, the length of time and extent to which the fair value has been less than cost, the financial condition and near term prospects of the issuer and

the Company’s ability and intent to hold the securities until fair value recovers. The assessment of the ability and intent to hold these securities to recovery focuses on liquidity need

s, asset/liability management objectives and securities portfolio objectives.

Based on the results of th

e evaluation

s,

the Company concluded that as of

March 31, 2015,

all unrealized losses related to

the equity securities

it owns

were temporary.