4. What is your intent in holding these securities? Did you invest in them because interest rates are so low on savings accounts these days? How long do you expect to own them? The investment in the preferred shares was Kay's idea. It was actually a great idea since we received dividends and the market price also increased. She plans to hold on to these shares and figures that it is a relatively safe place to park some cash that could be used for expansion sometime in the future. We are pretty excited about the effect these shares had on our bottom line this first year. We could always sell them if we need the cash, but we do not intend to sell them any time soon, especially if they keep performing the way they did this year. The bonds provided us with a nice interest payment at year end, but they lost value in the market. We plan to hold the bonds for at least a few years and hope they will also increase in value, allowing us to reap a gain later on down the road. Until then, you are correct in assuming the idea is to earn quite a bit more cash than any bank account would yield.