Trading Securities, Debt, Current

This item represents debt securities that are bought and held principally for the purpose of selling them in the near term (thus held for only a short period of time, usually less than one year or the normal operating cycle, whichever is longer) or for debt securities formerly categorized as available-for-sale or held-to-maturity which the entity held as of the date it opted to account for such securities at fair value. An enterprise may also categorize such a security as trading without the intent to sell it in the near term assuming the decision to categorize the security as trading occurred at acquisition; this is the reason why the trading category of investments in debt securities are bought and sold "principally" for sale in the near term. Transfers into and out of the trading category should be rare. Such financial instruments that are held as of the reporting date are measured at fair value with unrealized holding gains and losses (the difference between fair value and the previously reported carrying amount) included in earnings.