Financial Information
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PART II
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk.
We are exposed to market risk from changes in interest rates, stock prices, currency exchange rates, and debt prices. We manage our exposure to these risks by monitoring available financing alternatives, through development and application of credit granting policies and by entering into derivative arrangements. We do not foresee any significant changes in either our exposure to fluctuations in interest rates or currency rates or how we manage such exposure in the future.
We are exposed to interest rate risk on our floating-rate notes receivable and floating-rate debt. Changes in interest rates also impact the fair value of our fixed-rate notes receivable and the fair value of our fixed-rate long-term debt.
We are also subject to risk from changes in debt prices from our investments in debt securities and fluctuations in stock price from our investment in a publicly traded company. Changes in the price of the underlying stock can impact the fair value of our investment. We account for our investments as available-for-sale securities under the guidance for accounting for certain investments in debt and equity securities. At year-end 2015, our investments had a fair value of $37 million.
We use derivative instruments, including cash flow hedges, net investment in non-U.S. operations hedges, and other derivative instruments, as part of our overall strategy to manage our exposure to market risks associated with fluctuations in interest rates and currency exchange rates. As a matter of policy, we only enter into transactions that we believe will be highly effective at offsetting the underlying risk, and we do not use derivatives for trading or speculative purposes. See Footnote No. 2, “Summary of Significant Accounting Policies,” for more information on derivative instruments.
The following table sets forth the scheduled maturities and the total fair value as of year-end 2015 for our financial instruments that are impacted by market risks:
