Note 18 - Discontinued Operations Disposal Group, Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures (Details) - USD ($)			3 Months Ended																	6 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Apr. 02, 2015	Apr. 01, 2015	Dec. 31, 2016	[1]	Sep. 30, 2016	[1]	Jun. 30, 2016	[1]	Mar. 31, 2016	[1]	Dec. 31, 2015	[1]	Sep. 30, 2015	[1]	Jun. 30, 2015	[1]	Apr. 03, 2015	Mar. 31, 2015	[1]	Jun. 30, 2015	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015		Dec. 31, 2014
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Net investment income			$ 28,996,000		$ 28,430,000		$ 28,839,000		$ 27,201,000		$ 22,833,000		$ 22,091,000		$ 19,285,000			$ 17,328,000			$ 113,466,000	$ 81,537,000	[1]	$ 65,655,000
Other Income																					3,572,000	2,899,000		4,562,000
Total revenues																					1,238,452,000	1,193,253,000		1,072,685,000
Policy acquisition costs			5,579,000		6,119,000		5,393,000		6,389,000		4,831,000		2,880,000		6,963,000			7,750,000			23,480,000	22,424,000	[1]	24,446,000
Other operating expenses			$ 62,416,000		$ 62,119,000		$ 63,173,000		$ 57,188,000		58,624,000		64,013,000		65,925,000			53,843,000			244,896,000	242,405,000	[1]	251,209,000
Total expenses																					754,766,000	755,424,000		665,529,000
Income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of tax											$ 0	[2]	$ 0	[2]	$ 4,855,000	[2]		$ 530,000	[2]		0	5,385,000	[1],[2]	(300,057,000)
Discontinued Operations, Held-for-sale [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Total revenues																						34,271,000		258,844,000
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)					(14,280,000)		(467,527,000)
Total Operating Expenses and Interest Expense Allocated to Subsidiaries From Parent Company																					$ 0	0		0
Premiums Earned, Net, Financial Guarantee Insurance Contracts																						1,007,000		37,194,000
Net investment income																						9,153,000		35,633,000
Net gains (losses) on investments																						21,486,000		55,312,000
Derivative, Gain on Derivative																						2,625,000		130,617,000
Other Income																						0		88,000
Provision for losses																						502,000		2,853,000
Policy acquisition costs																						(191,000)		6,340,000
Other operating expenses																						4,107,000		23,726,000
Total expenses																						4,418,000		32,919,000
Equity in net (loss) income of affiliates																						(13,000)		(13,000)
Income (loss) from operations of businesses held for sale																						29,840,000		225,912,000
Discontinued Operation, Tax Effect of Income (Loss) from Disposal of Discontinued Operation																						10,175,000		58,442,000
Income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of tax																				$ 5,400,000		$ 5,385,000		$ (300,057,000)
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

[1] For all periods presented, reflects changes to align our segment reporting structure with recent changes in personnel reporting lines and management oversight related to contract underwriting performed on behalf of third parties. Revenue and expenses for this business are now reflected in the Services segment. As a result, for all periods presented, Services revenue and cost of services have increased, with offsetting reductions in other operating expenses.

[2] Radian completed the sale of Radian Asset Assurance to Assured on April 1, 2015, pursuant to the Radian Asset Assurance Stock Purchase Agreement. 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 18 for additional information.