Investment Securities:

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Investments, Debt and Equity Securities [Abstract]

Investment Securities [Text Block]

Investment Securities

Our investment securities consist of certificates of deposit, corporate bonds, U.S. Treasury securities, commercial paper and federal-tax-exempt state and municipal government debt.  All investment securities are considered available-for-sale and are “investment grade,” carried at fair value and there have been no gains or losses on their disposal.  Unrealized gains and losses on available-for-sale securities, net of tax, are included in accumulated other comprehensive income in the stockholders' equity section of our consolidated balance sheets. We have no gross unrealized gains or losses on available-for-sale securities at December 31, 2016 or 2015.  The amortized cost of debt securities in this category is adjusted for amortization of premiums and accretion of discounts to maturity computed under the effective interest method. Such amortization is included in investment income in other income on our consolidated statements of income.

As of December 31, 2016, we had liquidated all of our short-term and long-term investment securities to fund the 2017 acquisition of HIS (see Note 3: Acquisitions and Strategic Transaction Expenses).

Our investment securities consist of the following (in thousands):

	December 31,
		2015
Federal and municipal tax-exempt debt securities		$	4,951
Corporate bonds		25,400
U.S. Treasury securities		7,537
Commercial paper		2,097
Certificates of deposit		1,248
		$	41,233

During 2016, we amended our investment policy to allow for the purchase of securities whose final maturities are in excess of one year. The amended policy continues to adhere to a low risk tolerance in regard to capital preservation while allowing for the achievement of higher available yields.

Investment income, reflected in other income in our consolidated statements of income, was $0.9 million, $0.5 million and $0.4 million for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014, respectively.