Note 3 - Discontinued Operations Disposal Group, Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures (Details) - USD ($)		3 Months Ended																	6 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Apr. 01, 2015	Dec. 31, 2015		Sep. 30, 2015		Jun. 30, 2015		Apr. 02, 2015	Mar. 31, 2015		Dec. 31, 2014		Sep. 30, 2014		Jun. 30, 2014		Mar. 31, 2014		Jun. 30, 2015	Dec. 31, 2015		Dec. 31, 2014		Dec. 31, 2013
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Net investment income		$ 22,833,000		$ 22,091,000		$ 19,285,000			$ 17,328,000		$ 16,531,000		$ 17,143,000		$ 16,663,000		$ 15,318,000			$ 81,537,000		$ 65,655,000		$ 68,121,000
Net gains (losses) on investments																				35,081,000		83,869,000		(98,945,000)
Other Income																				6,300,000		5,820,000		6,890,000
Total revenues																				1,193,253,000		1,072,685,000		749,906,000
Policy acquisition costs		4,831,000		2,880,000		6,963,000			7,750,000		6,443,000		4,240,000		6,746,000		7,017,000			22,424,000		24,446,000		28,485,000
Total expenses																				755,424,000		665,529,000		923,252,000
Loss from discontinued operations, net of tax		0	[1]	$ 0	[1]	$ 4,855,000	[1]		$ 530,000	[1]	(449,691,000)	[1],[2]	$ 21,559,000	[1],[2]	$ 71,296,000	[1],[2]	$ 56,779,000	[1],[2]		5,385,000	[1]	(300,057,000)	[1],[2]	(55,134,000)
Fixed-maturities available for sale—at fair value		1,865,461,000									536,890,000									1,865,461,000		536,890,000
Equity securities available for sale—at fair value		75,430,000									143,368,000									75,430,000		143,368,000
Trading securities—at fair value		1,279,137,000									1,633,584,000									1,279,137,000		1,633,584,000
Short-term investments—at fair value		1,076,944,000									1,300,872,000									1,076,944,000		1,300,872,000
Other invested assets		1,714,000									14,585,000									1,714,000		14,585,000
Other Assets		354,420,000									357,864,000									354,420,000		357,864,000
Assets held for sale		0									1,736,444,000	[3]								0		1,736,444,000	[3]
Unearned premiums		680,300,000									644,504,000									680,300,000		644,504,000
Reserve for losses and loss adjustment expenses (“LAE”) (Note 10)		976,399,000									1,560,032,000									976,399,000		1,560,032,000
Other liabilities		269,016,000									326,743,000									269,016,000		326,743,000
Liabilities held for sale		0									947,008,000									0		947,008,000
Parent Company
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Total Operating Expenses and Interest Expense Allocated to Subsidiaries From Parent Company																				84,700,000		92,500,000		140,000,000
Net investment income																				17,917,000		9,515,000		4,300,000
Other Income																				0		7,000		0
Total revenues																				20,892,000		6,790,000		(2,656,000)
Total expenses																				149,975,000		57,366,000		37,087,000
Loss from discontinued operations, net of tax																				204,000		(18,027,000)		0
Fixed-maturities available for sale—at fair value		41,176,000									0									41,176,000		0
Equity securities available for sale—at fair value		25,510,000									0									25,510,000		0
Trading securities—at fair value		5,482,000									5,447,000									5,482,000		5,447,000
Short-term investments—at fair value		158,658,000									631,934,000									158,658,000		631,934,000
Other Assets		124,983,000									31,394,000									124,983,000		31,394,000
Assets held for sale		0									18,027,000									0		18,027,000
Other liabilities		46,392,000									96,989,000									46,392,000		96,989,000
Liabilities held for sale		0									18,027,000									0		18,027,000
Discontinued Operations, Held-for-sale [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Total revenues																						258,844,000		9,081,000
Discontinued Operations, Held-for-sale [Member] | Radian Asset Assurance [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Discontinued Operation, Provision for Loss (Gain) on Disposal, before Income Tax								$ 14,300,000												467,500,000		(467,527,000)		0
Total Operating Expenses and Interest Expense Allocated to Subsidiaries From Parent Company																				0
Premiums Earned, Net, Financial Guarantee Insurance Contracts																						37,194,000		49,474,000
Net investment income																						35,633,000		39,966,000
Net gains (losses) on investments																						55,312,000		(47,930,000)
Impairment losses on investments																						0		(3,000)
Derivative, Gain on Derivative																						130,617,000
Derivative, Loss on Derivative																								(32,406,000)
Other Income																						88,000		(20,000)
Provision for losses																						2,853,000		2,486,000
Policy acquisition costs																						6,340,000		13,178,000
Other operating expenses																						23,726,000		27,127,000
Total expenses																						32,919,000		42,791,000
Equity in net (loss) income of affiliates																						(13,000)		1,000
Income (loss) from operations of businesses held for sale																						225,912,000		(33,709,000)
Discontinued Operation, Tax Effect of Income (Loss) from Disposal of Discontinued Operation																						58,442,000		21,425,000
Loss from discontinued operations, net of tax																			$ 5,400,000			(300,057,000)		$ (55,134,000)
Fixed-maturities available for sale—at fair value											224,552,000											224,552,000
Equity securities available for sale—at fair value											3,749,000											3,749,000
Trading securities—at fair value											689,887,000											689,887,000
Short-term investments—at fair value											435,413,000											435,413,000
Other invested assets											108,206,000											108,206,000
Other Assets											274,637,000											274,637,000
Assets held for sale											1,736,444,000											1,736,444,000
Unearned premiums											158,921,000											158,921,000
Reserve for losses and loss adjustment expenses (“LAE”) (Note 10)											31,558,000											31,558,000
VIE debt—at fair value											85,016,000											85,016,000
Derivative Liabilities											183,370,000											183,370,000
Other liabilities											488,143,000											488,143,000
Liabilities held for sale											$ 947,008,000											$ 947,008,000
Discontinued Operations, Disposed of by Sale [Member] | Radian Asset Assurance [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Sale of Stock, Percentage of Ownership before Transaction	100.00%
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Consideration	$ 810,000,000
Equity Method Investment, Net Sales Proceeds	$ 789,000,000
Discontinued Operation, Provision for Loss (Gain) on Disposal, before Income Tax																				(14,280,000)
Premiums Earned, Net, Financial Guarantee Insurance Contracts																				1,007,000
Net investment income																				9,153,000
Net gains (losses) on investments																				21,486,000
Impairment losses on investments																				0
Derivative, Gain on Derivative																				2,625,000
Other Income																				0
Total revenues																				34,271,000
Provision for losses																				502,000
Policy acquisition costs																				(191,000)
Other operating expenses																				4,107,000
Total expenses																				4,418,000
Equity in net (loss) income of affiliates																				(13,000)
Income (loss) from operations of businesses held for sale																				29,840,000
Discontinued Operation, Tax Effect of Income (Loss) from Disposal of Discontinued Operation																				10,175,000
Loss from discontinued operations, net of tax																				5,385,000
Fixed-maturities available for sale—at fair value		0																		0
Equity securities available for sale—at fair value		0																		0
Trading securities—at fair value		0																		0
Short-term investments—at fair value		0																		0
Other invested assets		0																		0
Other Assets		0																		0
Assets held for sale		0																		0
Unearned premiums		0																		0
Reserve for losses and loss adjustment expenses (“LAE”) (Note 10)		0																		0
VIE debt—at fair value		0																		0
Derivative Liabilities		0																		0
Other liabilities		0																		0
Liabilities held for sale		$ 0																		$ 0

[1] Radian completed the sale of Radian Asset Assurance to Assured on April 1, 2015, pursuant to the Radian Asset Assurance Stock Purchase Agreement dated as of December 22, 2014. Until the April 1, 2015 sale date, the operating results of Radian Asset Assurance were classified as discontinued operations for all periods presented in our consolidated statements of operations. See Note 3 for additional information.

[2] Reflects a $468 million loss on reclassification of Radian Asset Assurance as assets held for sale in the fourth quarter of 2014.

[3] Assets held for sale are not part of the Mortgage Insurance or Services segments.