INVESTMENTS |
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| INVESTMENTS | 10. INVESTMENTS The following table summarizes the company's equity investments as of October 31, 2017 and 2016 (net book value):
Cost method investments consist of non-marketable equity securities and a fund and are accounted for at historical cost. Approximately $80 million relates to our variable interest entity investment, see Note 1, "Overview and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies". Trading securities are reported at fair value, with gains or losses resulting from changes in fair value recognized currently in earnings. All of our investments, excluding trading securities, are subject to periodic impairment review. The impairment analysis requires significant judgment to identify events or circumstances that would likely have significant adverse effect on the future value of the investment. We consider various factors in determining whether an impairment is other-than-temporary, including the severity and duration of the impairment, forecasted recovery, the financial condition and near-term prospects of the investee, and our ability and intent to hold the investment for a period of time sufficient to allow for any anticipated recovery in market value. During the year ended October 31, 2016, we identified certain events and circumstances that indicated the decline in value of an equity method investment was other-than-temporary. As a result, we wrote down the investment to its fair value of zero, resulting in an impairment charge of approximately $18 million. Amounts included in other income (expense), net for the appropriate share of loss on equity method investments and other than temporary impairments were as follows:
Net unrealized gains on our trading securities portfolio were $4 million in 2017, $1 million in 2016 and $2 million in 2015. |
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