Fair Value Measurements

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2016

10. Fair Value Measurements

Fair Value of Financial Assets

The Company’s financial assets measured at fair value on a recurring basis subject to disclosure requirements at March 31, 2016, and December 31, 2015 were as follows (in thousands):

	Balance at March 31, 2016		Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Assets (Level 1)		Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)		Significant Unobserved Inputs (Level 3)
Cash equivalents:
Money market mutual funds	$	-	$	-	$	-	$	-
Total cash equivalents		-		-		-		-
Short-term investments:
Commercial Paper		29		-		29		-
Other commodities		7		-		7		-
Total short-term investments		36		-		36		-

Total financial assets measured at fair value	$	36	$	-	$	36	$	-

	Balance at December 31, 2015		Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Assets (Level 1)		Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)		Significant Unobserved Inputs (Level 3)
Cash equivalents:
Money market mutual funds	$	-	$	1	$	-	$	-
Total cash equivalents		-		1		-		-
Short-term investments:
Commercial Paper		29		-		29		-
Other Commodities		7		-		7		-
Total short-term investments		36		-		36		-
Total financial assets measured at fair value	$	36	$	1	$	36	$	-

The Company held no Level 3 investments at March 31, 2016 and at December 31, 2015.

Investments

For investments that have quoted market prices in active markets, the Company uses the quoted market prices as fair value and includes these prices in the amounts disclosed in Level 1 of the hierarchy. The Company receives the quoted market prices from a third party, nationally recognized pricing service (“pricing service”). When quoted market prices are unavailable, the Company utilizes a pricing service to determine a single estimate of fair value, which is mainly for its fixed maturity investments. The fair value estimates provided from this pricing service are included in the amount disclosed in Level 2 of the hierarchy. The Company bases all of its estimates of fair value for assets on the bid price as it represents what a third party market participant would be willing to pay in an arm’s length transaction.

The Company validates the prices received from the pricing service using various methods including, applicability of Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or other national government insurance or guarantees, comparison of proceeds received on individual investments subsequent to reporting date, prices received from publicly available sources, and review of transaction volume data to confirm the presence of active markets. The Company does not adjust the prices received from the pricing service unless such prices are determined to be inconsistent. At March 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015, the Company did not adjust prices received from the pricing service.

Trade accounts receivable, net: The carrying value reported in the Consolidated Balance Sheets approximates fair value and is net of allowances for doubtful accounts and returns which estimate customer non-performance risk.

Trade accounts payable and accrued liabilities: The carrying value reported in the Consolidated Balance Sheets for these items approximates their fair value, which is the likely amount that the liability with short settlement periods would be transferred to a market participant with a similar credit standing as the Company.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for the fair value of financial instruments (as defined), including financial assets and financial liabilities (collectively, as defined), and the measurements of those instruments as well as disclosures related to the fair value of non-financial assets and liabilities. Such disclosures about the financial instruments, assets, and liabilities would include: (1) the fair value of the required items together with their carrying amounts (as appropriate); (2) for items for which it is not practicable to estimate fair value, disclosure would include: (a) information pertinent to estimating fair value (including, carrying amount, effective interest rate, and maturity, and (b) the reasons why it is not practicable to estimate fair value; (3) significant concentrations of credit risk including: (a) information about the activity, region, or economic characteristics identifying a concentration, (b) the maximum amount of loss the entity is exposed to based on the gross fair value of the related item, (c) policy for requiring collateral or other security and information as to accessing such collateral or security, and (d) the nature and brief description of such collateral or security; (4) quantitative information about market risks and how such risks are managed; (5) for items measured on both a recurring and nonrecurring basis information regarding the inputs used to develop the fair value measurement; and (6) for items presented in the financial statement for which fair value measurement is elected: (a) information necessary to understand the reasons for the election, (b) discussion of the effect of fair value changes on earnings, (c) a description of [similar groups] items for which the election is made and the relation thereof to the balance sheet, the aggregate carrying value of items included in the balance sheet that are not eligible for the election; (7) all other required (as defined) and desired information.

+ References + Details

LookSmart Group, Inc. 10-Q