Comcast 2008 Annual Report Download - page 39

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Equity Price Risk Management
We are exposed to the market risk of changes in the equity prices
of our investments in marketable securities. We enter into various
derivative transactions in accordance with our policies to manage
the volatility relating to these exposures. Through market value and
sensitivity analyses, we monitor our equity price risk exposures to
ensure that the instruments are matched with the underlying
assets or liabilities, reduce our risks relating to equity prices and
maintain a high correlation to the risk inherent in the hedged item.
To limit our exposure to and benefits from price fluctuations in the
common stock of some of our investments, we use equity
derivative financial instruments. These derivative financial instru-
ments, which are accounted for at fair value, include equity collar
agreements, prepaid forward sales agreements and indexed debt
instruments.
Except as described above in “Investment Income (Loss), Net,” the
changes in the fair value of the investments that we accounted for
as trading securities were substantially offset by the changes in the
fair values of the equity derivative financial instruments.
Refer to Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements for a
discussion of our accounting policies for derivative financial
instruments and to Note 6 and Note 9 to our consolidated financial
statements for discussions of our derivative financial instruments.
37 Comcast 2008 Annual Report on Form 10-K