Note 6 - VIEs Financial Guaranty Insurance Contracts VIEs (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2013 Variable Interest Entity, Primary Beneficiary [Member] transaction	Dec. 31, 2013 Financial Guarantee Insurance Product Line [Member] Variable Interest Entity, Primary Beneficiary [Member]		Dec. 31, 2012 Financial Guarantee Insurance Product Line [Member] Variable Interest Entity, Primary Beneficiary [Member]		Dec. 31, 2011 Financial Guarantee Insurance Product Line [Member] Variable Interest Entity, Primary Beneficiary [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Financial Guarantee Insurance Product Line [Member] Variable Interest Entity, Not Primary Beneficiary [Member]		Dec. 31, 2012 Financial Guarantee Insurance Product Line [Member] Variable Interest Entity, Not Primary Beneficiary [Member]		Dec. 31, 2011 Financial Guarantee Insurance Product Line [Member] Variable Interest Entity, Not Primary Beneficiary [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 April 2012 Commutation Transactions [Member] Radian Asset Assurance [Member] security counterparty transaction
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Number of Derivative Counterparties Involved in Commutation															1
Number Of Trups CDOs Terminated															6
Net Par Outstanding															$ 699,000,000
Number Of Consolidated Other Financial Guaranty Transactions				2
Number Of Consolidated CDO Of ABS Transactions															1
Balance Sheet Related Disclosures
Trading securities—at fair value	3,117,429,000	4,094,622,000			81,000,000		78,006,000
Derivative Assets	16,642,000	13,609,000			0		0			0		3,201,000
Premiums receivable										2,211,000		2,859,000
Other assets	379,947,000	374,662,000			92,023,000		99,337,000
Unearned premiums	768,871,000	648,682,000	637,372,000							1,872,000		2,513,000
Reserve for losses and LAE	2,185,421,000	3,149,936,000	3,310,902,000							14,094,000		14,376,000
Derivative liabilities	307,185,000	266,873,000	126,006,000		68,457,000		70,467,000			220,633,000		175,781,000
VIE debt - at fair value	94,645,000	108,858,000	228,240,000		91,800,000		98,983,000
Other liabilities	395,852,000	328,955,000			254,000		366,000			0		0
Maximum exposure (1)					121,628,000	[1]	120,939,000	[1]		4,578,784,000	[1]	5,096,718,000	[1]
Statement of Operations
Premiums earned	830,894,000	738,982,000	756,025,000						0	1,203,000		2,087,000		2,648,000
Net investment income	108,088,000	114,337,000	163,520,000		1,786,000		3,362,000		8,696,000
Net (losses) gains on investments	(149,720,000)	184,888,000	202,177,000		1,208,000		(1,205,000)		14,746,000	0		0		0
Change in fair value of derivative instruments, gain (loss)	(31,771,000)	(144,025,000)	628,395,000		(503,000)		1,189,000		(10,696,000)	(43,553,000)		(168,255,000)		511,202,000
Net (losses) gains on other financial instruments	(4,736,000)	(82,269,000)	193,329,000		4,435,000		(90,071,000)		155,507,000
Provision for losses, increase (decrease)	567,134,000	959,171,000	1,296,521,000						0	25,000		5,930,000		(6,015,000)
Other operating expenses	284,528,000	196,672,000	175,810,000		1,940,000		2,332,000		3,090,000
Net cash inflow (outflow) for VIEs					$ 438,000		$ (134,509,000)		$ 823,000	$ 5,443,000		$ (68,990,000)		$ 7,620,000

[1] The difference between the carrying amounts of the net asset/liability position and maximum exposure related to VIEs is primarily due to the difference between the face amount of the obligation and the recorded fair values, which include an adjustment for our non-performance risk, as applicable. For those VIEs that have recourse to our general credit, the maximum exposure is based on the net par amount of our insured obligation. For any VIEs that do not have recourse to our general credit, the maximum exposure is generally based on the recorded net assets of the VIE, as of the reporting date.