Non-marketable Equity Securities

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2011

Investments, All Other Investments [Abstract]

Cost-method Investments, Description [Text Block]

Non-marketable Equity Securities

The aggregate cost of the Company's cost method investments totaled $8,263,077 at September 30, 2011 and $12,463,510 at December 31, 2010. Cost method investments at September 30, 2011 include $7,005,300 in FHLB stock and $1,257,777 of investments in various trust and financial companies, which are included in other assets. All cost method investments were evaluated for impairment at September 30, 2011 and December 31, 2010. The following factors have been considered in determining the carrying amount of FHLB stock; 1) the recoverability of the par value, 2) the Company has sufficient liquidity to meet all operational needs in the foreseeable future and would not need to dispose of the stock below recorded amounts, 3) redemptions and purchases of the stock are at the discretion of the FHLB, 4) the Company believes the FHLB has the ability to absorb economic losses given the expectation that the various FHLBs' have a high degree of government support, and 5) the unrealized losses related to securities owned by the FHLB are manageable given the capital levels of the organization. The Company estimated that the fair value equaled or exceeded the cost of these investments (that is, the investments were not impaired) with two exceptions. The Company's investment in a local community bank was considered to be other than temporarily impaired and $73,848 and $116,003 was charged off in the three and nine months ended September 30, 2011, respectively. During the first nine months of 2010, the Company's investment in a financial services company and two local community banks were considered to be other than temporarily impaired and approximately $379,000 was charged-off. In addition to the impairments listed above, the Company also sold its investment in a financial services company during the first quarter of 2011, resulting in a loss of $79,910.