Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Investments In Available-For-Sale Securities And Other Cost Investments

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Investments In Available-For-Sale Securities And Other Cost Investments
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2015
Investments in Available-for-Sale Securities and Other Cost Investments [Abstract]  
Investments in Available-for-Sale Securities and Other Cost Investments

(5)   Investments in Available-for-Sale Securities and Other Cost Investments

All marketable equity and debt securities held by the Company are classified as available-for-sale ("AFS") and are carried at fair value generally based on quoted market prices. GAAP permits entities to choose to measure many financial instruments, such as AFS securities, and certain other items at fair value and to recognize the changes in fair value of such instruments in the entity's statement of operations (the "fair value option"). The Company previously entered into economic hedges for certain of its non-strategic AFS securities (although such instruments were not accounted for as fair value hedges by the Company). Changes in the fair value of these economic hedges were reflected in the Company's statement of operations as unrealized gains (losses). In order to better match the changes in fair value of the subject AFS securities and the changes in fair value of the corresponding economic hedges in the Company's financial statements, the Company elected the fair value option for those of its AFS securities which it considers to be non-strategic ("Fair Value Option Securities"). Accordingly, changes in the fair value of Fair Value Option Securities, as determined by quoted market prices, are reported in realized and unrealized gains (losses) on financial instruments in the accompanying condensed consolidated statements of operations.

Investments in AFS securities, including Fair Value Option Securities separately aggregated, and other cost investments are summarized as follows:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    

September 30,

    

December 31,

 

 

 

2015

 

2014

 

 

 

amounts in millions

 

Fair Value Option Securities

 

 

 

 

 

 

Time Warner, Inc. (a)

 

$

292

 

363

 

Viacom, Inc. (b)

 

 

80

 

273

 

Other equity securities (a)

 

 

64

 

55

 

Other debt securities

 

 

25

 

54

 

Total Fair Value Option Securities

 

 

461

 

745

 

AFS and cost investments

 

 

 

 

 

 

Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. ("Live Nation") debt securities

 

 

24

 

24

 

Other AFS and cost investments

 

 

56

 

47

 

Total AFS and cost investments

 

 

80

 

71

 

 

 

$

541

 

816

 


(a)

See note 8 for details regarding the number and fair value of shares pledged as collateral pursuant to certain margin loan agreements as of September 30, 2015.

(b)

During the nine months ended September 30, 2015, Liberty sold 1.8 million shares of Viacom common stock for approximately $122 million in proceeds.

Unrealized Holding Gains and Losses

 

There were no unrealized holding gains and losses related to investments in AFS securities as of September 30, 2015 or December 31, 2014.