Short-term investments

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Investments, Debt and Equity Securities [Abstract]

Short-term investments

5. Short-term investments:

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has issued authoritative accounting guidance that defines fair value, establishes a framework for measuring fair value and establishes a fair value hierarchy which prioritizes the inputs to valuation techniques. The guidance clarifies that fair value should be based on assumptions that market participants would use when pricing an asset or liability.  The three levels of fair value hierarchy are described below:

· Level 1 – Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets that are accessible at the measurement date for identical, unrestricted assets or liabilities;

· Level 2 – Quoted prices in active markets for similar assets and liabilities or quoted prices in less active, dealer or broker markets;

· Level 3 – Prices or valuations that require inputs that are both significant to the fair value measurement and are unobservable.

Marketable securities at December 31, 2015 consist of (in thousands):

	December 31, 2015
	Cost		Unrealized Gains		Estimated Fair Value
Mutual funds	$	91	$	66	$	157

Short-term investments in mutual funds managed by a subsidiary of Winthrop, which are classified as a level 1, are stated at the net asset value of the funds.   The Company liquidated these investments in the first quarter of 2016 for a total of $148,000 and recognized a loss of $9,000.