Fair Value Measurements

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2016

Note 4 Fair Value Measurements

Our financial assets and liabilities that are accounted for at fair value on a recurring basis as of September 30, 2016 consist of available-for-sale equity and debt securities. Our debt securities could transfer into or out of a Level 1 or 2 measure depending on the availability of independent and current pricing at the end of each quarter. During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016, there were no transfers of our financial assets between Level 1 and Level 2 measures. Our financial assets and liabilities are classified in their entirety based on the lowest level of input that is significant to the fair value measurement. The majority of our short-term investments are categorized as Level 1 and had a fair value of $23.6 million as of September 30, 2016.

Nonrecurring Fair Value Measurements

We applied fair value measurements to our nonfinancial assets and liabilities measured on a nonrecurring basis, which consist of measurements primarily to assets held for sale, goodwill, equity method investments, intangible assets and other long-lived assets, assets acquired and liabilities assumed in a business combination and our pipeline contractual commitment.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

We estimate the fair value of our financial instruments in accordance with GAAP. The fair value of our long-term debt, revolving credit facility and commercial paper is estimated based on quoted market prices or prices quoted from third-party financial institutions. The fair value of our debt instruments is determined using Level 2 measurements. The carrying and fair values of these liabilities were as follows:


	September 30, 2016				December 31, 2015
	Carrying		Fair		Carrying		Fair
	Value		Value		Value		Value
	(In thousands)				(In thousands)
2.35% senior notes due September 2016	$	—	$	—	$	347,955	$	347,708
6.15% senior notes due February 2018		828,176		864,452		921,162		935,962
9.25% senior notes due January 2019		303,489		334,217		339,607		342,575
5.00% senior notes due September 2020		669,463		662,714		683,839		617,409
4.625% senior notes due September 2021		694,808		656,850		698,628		581,630
5.10% senior notes due September 2023		346,416		336,447		349,021		280,907
Term loan facility		325,000		325,000		325,000		325,000
Revolving credit facility		300,000		300,000		—		—
Commercial paper		23,000		23,000		8,000		8,000
Other		120		120		6,508		6,508
		3,490,472		3,502,800		3,679,720		3,445,699
Less: Deferred financing costs		14,374				18,012
	$	3,476,098			$	3,661,708

The fair values of our cash equivalents, trade receivables and trade payables approximate their carrying values due to the short-term nature of these instruments.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for the fair value of financial instruments (as defined), including financial assets and financial liabilities (collectively, as defined), and the measurements of those instruments as well as disclosures related to the fair value of non-financial assets and liabilities. Such disclosures about the financial instruments, assets, and liabilities would include: (1) the fair value of the required items together with their carrying amounts (as appropriate); (2) for items for which it is not practicable to estimate fair value, disclosure would include: (a) information pertinent to estimating fair value (including, carrying amount, effective interest rate, and maturity, and (b) the reasons why it is not practicable to estimate fair value; (3) significant concentrations of credit risk including: (a) information about the activity, region, or economic characteristics identifying a concentration, (b) the maximum amount of loss the entity is exposed to based on the gross fair value of the related item, (c) policy for requiring collateral or other security and information as to accessing such collateral or security, and (d) the nature and brief description of such collateral or security; (4) quantitative information about market risks and how such risks are managed; (5) for items measured on both a recurring and nonrecurring basis information regarding the inputs used to develop the fair value measurement; and (6) for items presented in the financial statement for which fair value measurement is elected: (a) information necessary to understand the reasons for the election, (b) discussion of the effect of fair value changes on earnings, (c) a description of [similar groups] items for which the election is made and the relation thereof to the balance sheet, the aggregate carrying value of items included in the balance sheet that are not eligible for the election; (7) all other required (as defined) and desired information.

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