The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. 2009 Annual Report

NOTE 12 - FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS
The Company records its financial assets and liabilities at fair value, which is defined as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability, in the principal or most advantageous market for the asset or liability, in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. The Company is required to maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs when measuring fair value. The three levels of inputs that may be used to measure fair value are as follows:

Level 1:   Inputs based on quoted market prices for identical assets or liabilities in active markets at the measurement date.

Level 2:   Observable inputs other than quoted prices included in Level 1, such as quoted prices for similar assets and liabilities in active markets; quoted prices for identical or similar assets and liabilities in markets that are not active; or other inputs that are observable or can be corroborated by observable market data.

Level 3:   Inputs reflect management's best estimate of what market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability at the measurement date. The inputs are unobservable in the market and significant to the instruments valuation.

The following table presents the Company's hierarchy for its financial assets and liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis as of June 30, 2009:

Fair Value of Financial Instruments
The following methods and assumptions were used to estimate the fair value of the Company's other classes of financial instruments for which it is practicable to estimate that value:

Cash and cash equivalents-The carrying amount approximates fair value, primarily because of the short maturity of cash equivalent instruments.

Available-For-Sale Securities - Available-for-sale securities are generally comprised of mutual funds and are valued using quoted market prices on an active exchange. Available-for-sale securities are included in investments in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets.

Foreign Currency Forward and Option Contracts-The fair values of the Company's foreign currency forward and option contracts were valued using pricing models, with all significant inputs derived from or corroborated by observable market data such as yield curves, currency spot and forward rates and currency volatilities.

Interest Rate Swap Contracts - The fair values of the Company's outstanding interest rate swap contracts were determined based on non-binding offers from the counterparties that are corroborated by observable market data.

Short-term and long-term debt - The fair value of the Company's debt was estimated based on the current rates offered to the Company for debt with the same remaining maturities. To a lesser extent, debt also includes capital lease obligations for which the carrying amount approximates the fair value.

The estimated fair values of the Company's financial instruments are as follows: