Note 7 - Investments in Marketable Securities

6 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2021

Notes to Financial Statements

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

Note 7 - Investments in Marketable Securities

All investments are classified as “Current assets” because they are available for sale at any time. These “available-for-sale” marketable securities 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, 2021 and September 30, 2020, there were net accumulated pretax unrealized gains of $213,661,000 and $137,593,000, respectively, recorded in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets. Most of the accumulated pretax unrealized gains were in the common stocks of three U.S. financial institutions and one foreign manufacturer.

The Company adopted ASU No. 2016-01, Subtopic 825-10 in fiscal 2019. For the six months ended March 31, 2021, the Company recorded and included in its net income the net unrealized gains on marketable securities of $76,068,000, as compared with the net unrealized losses on marketable securities of $57,680,000, in the prior year period. (For the three months ended March 31, 2021, the Company had net unrealized losses on marketable securities of $5,144,000, as compared with $77,211,000 in the prior year period.)

In January 2021, the Company sold part of its marketable securities for $20,002,000, realizing gains on the sales of those marketable securities of $18,478,000, and simultaneously purchased marketable securities of another company with a total cost of approximately $39,995,000. At March 31, 2021, there were unrealized losses of $2,512,000 related to the newly purchased marketable securities.

Investments in marketable securities as of March 31, 2021 and September 30, 2020 are summarized below.

Investment in Marketable Securities

	March 31, 2021						September 30, 2020
	Aggregate fair value		Amortized/ Adjusted cost basis		Pretax unrealized gains		Aggregate fair value		Amortized/ Adjusted cost basis		Pretax unrealized gains
Marketable securities
Common stocks	$	293,907,000	$	80,246,000	$	213,661,000	$	179,368,000	$	41,775,000	$	137,593,000