Short and Long Term Investments

6 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2011

Investments, Debt and Equity Securities [Abstract]

Short and Long Term Investments

Note 4: Short and Long Term Investments

The Company’s short term investment balance consists of short term bond mutual funds. The Company’s long term investment portfolio consists of auction rate securities (“ARS”), which are investments with contractual maturities generally between 20 to 30 years, in the form of municipal bonds and preferred stock, whose interest rates are reset, typically every seven to twenty-eight days, through an auction process. At the end of each reset period, investors can sell or continue to hold the securities at par. Beginning in February 2008, auctions failed for the ARS held because sell orders exceeded buy orders. These failures are not believed to be a credit issue, but rather are caused by a lack of liquidity. The funds associated with these failed auctions may not be accessible until the issuer calls the security, a successful auction occurs, a buyer is found outside of the auction process, or the security matures.

As a result, these securities with failed auctions have been classified as long-term assets in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet due to the fact that they were not currently trading at such date, and conditions in the general markets created uncertainty as to when successful auctions would be reestablished. These ARS are recorded at estimated fair value and have variable interest rates that are recorded as interest income. In accordance with ASC Topic 320 (“Accounting for Certain Investments in Debt and Equity Securities” ), short term investments are accounted for as available for sale securities, and long term investments are classified as available for sale, with any changes in fair value to be reflected in other comprehensive income. The Company evaluates its long term investments for impairment and whether impairment is other-than-temporary, and, if other-than-temporary, then the measurement of the impairment loss is a charge to net income. Unrealized gains and losses are deemed temporary and are included in accumulated other comprehensive income. The Company recognized a temporary impairment on its ARS investments during fiscal 2011. The Company does not believe that the underlying credit quality of the assets has been impacted; however the temporary impairment is mainly due to the lack of liquidity. The Company is currently trying to liquidate all ARS. The following is a summary of our investments:

	September 30,		March 31,
Investments (In thousands)	2011		2011
Short term investments		10,266		10,116
Long term investments		2,689		12,390
Total investments	$	12,955	$	22,506

The long term investment balances consist of ARS investments. Our ARS consist of closed-end fund preferred ARS, with interest rates that reset, typically every seven to twenty-eight days. These ARS are currently rated AAA, the highest rating available by a rating agency. The fair value of our ARS investments was assessed by management with the assistance of an outside third party, which was conducted during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011. Subsequently, during the quarter ended September 30, 2011, the Company was able to liquidate approximately $2.1 million of its ARS investments, at par. As of September 30, 2011, the Company held $2.7 million in ARS, at par, which were classified as long term investments and the Company recorded an unrealized recovery of approximately $27,000 for the quarter then ended. As of September 30, 2011, cumulative losses of $36,000 were recognized within the accumulated other comprehensive loss account. The approximately $36,000 impairment was recorded as temporary due to the fact that the Company has the intent and the ability to hold these securities until anticipated recovery or maturity, and does expect to fully recover the cost basis of the investment.