Note 6 - Investments (Tables)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2012

Investments [Abstract]

Total Debt And Equity Securities [Table Text Block]

Our held to maturity and available for sale securities within our investment portfolio consisted of the following as of the dates indicated:

	September 30, 2012
(In thousands)	Amortized Cost		Fair Value		Gross Unrealized Gains		Gross Unrealized Losses
Fixed-maturities held to maturity:
Bonds and notes:
State and municipal obligations	$	1,233	$	1,273	$	47	$	7
	$	1,233	$	1,273	$	47	$	7
Fixed-maturities available for sale:
U.S. government and agency securities	$	4,953	$	5,329	$	376	$	—
State and municipal obligations	43,004		43,488		842		358
Corporate bonds and notes	15,788		16,475		994		307
RMBS	53		55		3		1
Other investments	997		1,065		68		—
	$	64,795	$	66,412	$	2,283	$	666
Equity securities available for sale (1)	$	88,260	$	112,884	$	24,624	$	—
Total debt and equity securities	$	154,288	$	180,569	$	26,954	$	673

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(1) Comprising broadly diversified domestic equity mutual funds ($100.0 million fair value) and various preferred and common stocks invested across numerous companies and industries ($12.9 million fair value).

	December 31, 2011
(In thousands)	Amortized Cost		Fair Value		Gross Unrealized Gains		Gross Unrealized Losses
Fixed-maturities held to maturity:
Bonds and notes:
State and municipal obligations	$	2,640	$	2,748	$	115	$	7
	$	2,640	$	2,748	$	115	$	7
Fixed-maturities available for sale:
U.S. government and agency securities	$	10,931	$	13,630	$	2,699	$	—
State and municipal obligations	87,083		82,692		485		4,876
Corporate bonds and notes	17,267		16,610		390		1,047
RMBS	1,308		1,360		53		1
CMBS	1,660		1,669		25		16
Other ABS	1,019		1,177		158		—
Other investments	1,489		1,595		106		—
	$	120,757	$	118,733	$	3,916	$	5,940
Equity securities available for sale (1)	$	114,425	$	128,424	$	14,868	$	869
Total debt and equity securities	$	237,822	$	249,905	$	18,899	$	6,816

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(1) Comprising broadly diversified domestic equity mutual funds ($116.0 million fair value) and various preferred and common stocks invested across numerous companies and industries ($12.4 million fair value).

Trading Securities (and Certain Trading Assets) [Table Text Block]

The trading securities within our investment portfolio, which are recorded at fair value, consisted of the following as of the dates indicated:

(In thousands)	September 30, 2012		December 31, 2011
Trading securities:
U.S. government and agency securities	$	775,329	$	710,006
State and municipal obligations	597,449		964,748
Corporate bonds and notes	804,592		683,864
RMBS	931,817		928,887
CMBS	190,280		224,180
CDO	—		5,467
Other ABS	220,074		98,729
Foreign government securities (1)	115,652		102,851
Hybrid securities	359,762		346,338
Equity securities	149,647		140,764
Other investments	778		5,225
Total	$	4,145,380	$	4,211,059

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(1) Our largest concentrations of foreign government securities as of September 30, 2012 and December 31, 2011, were Germany ($21.5 million and $42.6 million fair value, respectively) and Japan ($62.8 million and $28.0 million fair value, respectively). As of September 30, 2012 and December 31, 2011, nearly all of our foreign government securities were rated A or higher by a nationally recognized statistical rating organization. As of September 30, 2012 and December 31, 2011, our trading portfolio included no foreign sovereign or sub-sovereign securities of the six European countries (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, Spain, and Hungary) whose sovereign and sub-sovereign obligations have been under particular stress due to economic uncertainty, potential restructuring and ratings downgrades, or securities of any other countries under similar stress.

Schedule Of Unrealized Losses [Table Text Block]

The following tables show the gross unrealized losses and fair value of our available for sale and held to maturity investments, aggregated by investment category and length of time that individual securities have been in a continuous unrealized loss position, as of the dates indicated:

September 30, 2012: ($ in thousands) Description of Securities	Less Than 12 Months					12 Months or Greater					Total
	# of securities	Fair Value		Unrealized Losses		# of securities	Fair Value		Unrealized Losses		# of securities	Fair Value		Unrealized Losses
State and municipal obligations	—	$	—	$	—	4	$	6,202	$	365	4	$	6,202	$	365
Corporate bonds and notes	—	—		—		7	5,492		307		7	5,492		307
RMBS	1	35		1		—	—		—		1	35		1
Total	1	$	35	$	1	11	$	11,694	$	672	12	$	11,729	$	673

December 31, 2011: ($ in thousands) Description of Securities	Less Than 12 Months					12 Months or Greater					Total
	# of securities	Fair Value		Unrealized Losses		# of securities	Fair Value		Unrealized Losses		# of securities	Fair Value		Unrealized Losses
State and municipal obligations	1	$	525	$	17	9	$	72,653	$	4,866	10	$	73,178	$	4,883
Corporate bonds and notes	6	2,457		97		18	8,902		950		24	11,359		1,047
RMBS	2	354		1		—	—		—		2	354		1
CMBS	—	—		—		1	527		16		1	527		16
Equity securities	1	9,284		869		—	—		—		1	9,284		869
Total	10	$	12,620	$	984	28	$	82,082	$	5,832	38	$	94,702	$	6,816

Investments Classified by Contractual Maturity Date [Table Text Block]

The contractual maturities of fixed-maturity investments are as follows:

	September 30, 2012
	Held to Maturity				Available for Sale
(In thousands)	Amortized Cost		Fair Value		Amortized Cost		Fair Value
Due in one year or less (1)	$	492	$	532	$	7,461	$	7,578
Due after one year through five years (1)	434		441		11,456		11,834
Due after five years through ten years (1)	—		—		3,046		3,163
Due after ten years (1)	307		300		42,779		43,782
RMBS (2)	—		—		53		55
Total	$	1,233	$	1,273	$	64,795	$	66,412

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(1) Actual maturities may differ as a result of calls before scheduled maturity.

(2) RMBS are shown separately as they are not due at a single maturity date.