4. INVESTMENTS IN MARKETABLE SECURITIES

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2012

Marketable Securities [Table Text Block]

4. INVESTMENTS IN MARKETABLE SECURITIES

Investments in marketable securities consist primarily of large capital corporate equity and debt securities in varying industries or issued by government agencies with readily determinable fair values. These securities are stated at market value, as determined by the most recent traded price of each security at the balance sheet date. Consistent with the Company’s overall current investment objectives and activities its entire marketable securities portfolio is classified as trading.

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) from investments in marketable securities for the three months ended March 31, 2012 and 2011 is summarized below:

	Three Months Ended March 31,
Description	2012		2011
Net realized gain from sales of securities	$	49,000	$	79,000
Unrealized net gain (loss) in trading securities		43,000		(17,000	)
Total net gain from investments in marketable securities	$	92,000	$	62,000

For the three months ended March 31, 2012 net realized gain from sales of marketable securities of approximately $49,000 consisted of approximately $65,000 of gross gains net of $16,000 of gross losses. For the three months ended March 31, 2011 net realized gain from sales of marketable securities of approximately $79,000 consisted of approximately $94,000 of gross gains net of $15,000 of gross losses.

Investment gains and losses on marketable securities may fluctuate significantly from period to period in the future and could have a significant impact on the Company’s net earnings. However, the amount of investment gains or losses on marketable securities for any given period has no predictive value and variations in amount from period to period have no practical analytical value.