Fair Value - Note 4

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Fair Value [Abstract]

Fair Value Disclosure

 4. FAIR VALUE

We measure assets and liabilities at fair value based on exit price, which is defined by the authoritative guidance on fair value measurements as the amount that would be received on the sale of an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants.

Fair Value Hierarchy

The authoritative guidance on fair value measurements establishes a three-tier value hierarchy, which prioritizes the inputs used in measuring fair value as follows:

Level 1. Quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.

Level 2. Observable inputs other than Level 1 prices, such as quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities, quoted prices in markets with insufficient volume or infrequent transactions (less active markets), or model-derived valuations in which all significant inputs are observable or can be derived principally from or corroborated with observable market data for substantially the full term of the assets or liabilities.

Level 3. Unobservable inputs to the valuation methodology that are significant to the measurement of the fair value of assets or liabilities.

Our cash equivalents and investment instruments are classified within Level 1 of the fair value hierarchy, as these instruments are valued using quoted market prices. Specifically, we value our investments in U.S. government and agency securities, money market securities, certificates of deposit and plan assets under our Deferred Compensation Plan based on quoted market prices in active markets; and values our investments in corporate bonds, commercial paper and state, municipal and provincial obligations based on other observable inputs. As of December 31, 2011 and 2010, and for the years then ended, we had no assets or liabilities classified within Level 2 or Level 3 and there were no transfers of instruments between Level 1 and Level 2 regarding fair value measurement.

Assets and Liabilities Measured at Fair Value on a Recurring Basis

Assets measured at fair value on a recurring basis consisted of the following types of instruments as of December 31, 2011 and 2010:

	December 31, 2011			December 31, 2010
	Fair Value Measurements at			Fair Value Measurements at
	Reporting Date Using			Reporting Date Using
	(Level 1)	(Level 2)	Total	(Level 1)	(Level 2)	Total
	(thousands)			(thousands)
Assets measured at fair value:
Cash equivalents:
Money market funds	$ 13,039	$          -	$ 13,039	$ 2,885	$          -	$ 2,885
Short-term investments:
United States agency securities	-	-	-	2,151	-	2,151
Other assets:
Equity instruments	168	-	168	164	-	164
	$ 13,207	$          -	$ 13,207	$ 5,200	$          -	$ 5,200
Liabilities measured at fair value:
Other liabilities:
Deferred compensation	$     168	$          -	$     168	$    164	$          -	$    164

In the table above, equity instruments represent plan assets under our Deferred Compensation Plan, which effectively offset corresponding Deferred Compensation Plan liabilities as of the dates presented.