The Company uses the accounting guidance that applies to all assets and liabilities that are being measured and reported on a fair value basis. The guidance defines fair value as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. The guidance also establishes a fair value hierarchy that prioritizes the inputs to valuation techniques used to measure fair value. Assets and liabilities carried at fair value are classified and disclosed in one of the following three categories:

The accounting guidance establishes a hierarchy which requires an entity to maximize the use of quoted market prices and minimize the use of unobservable inputs. An asset or liability’s level is based on the lowest level of input that is significant to the fair value measurement.

The following tables set forth the Company’s financial assets and liabilities that were measured at fair value on a recurring basis during the period, by level, within the fair value hierarchy:

Trading securities are valued using quoted prices on an active exchange. Trading securities represent assets held in a Rabbi Trust to fund deferred compensation liabilities and are included as restricted investments on the accompanying consolidated balance sheets.

The unrealized gains on these securities of $364, $329, and $19 were recorded as other income by the Company for the years ended December 31, 2013, 2012, and 2011, respectively. An offsetting entry for the same amount, increasing the deferred compensation liability and compensation expense within SG&A, was also recorded for the years ended December 31, 2013, 2012, and 2011.

The Company utilizes interest rate cap and interest rate swap contracts to manage our targeted mix of fixed and floating rate debt, and these contracts are valued using observable benchmark rates at commonly quoted intervals for the full term of the cap and swap contracts. As of December 31, 2013, the interest rate caps were included in other non-current assets on the accompanying consolidated balance sheet. As of December 31, 2012 the interest rate swap was included in other current liabilities on the accompanying consolidated balance sheet. As of December 31, 2013 the interest rate swap had expired and had no value.

The Company utilizes foreign exchange forward contracts to manage our exposure to currency fluctuations in the Canadian dollar versus the U.S. dollar. The forward contracts were valued using observable benchmark rates at commonly quoted intervals during the term of the forward contract. The foreign exchange forward contracts were included in other current liabilities as of December 31, 2013 and December 31, 2012 on the accompanying consolidated balance sheets.

The Company utilizes metal commodity swap contracts to manage our exposure to price fluctuations in metal commodities used in our key products, and these swaps are valued using observable benchmark rates at commonly quoted intervals for the full term of the swaps. The metal commodity swap contracts were included in other current assets and liabilities as of December 31, 2012 on the accompanying consolidated balance sheet. As of December 31, 2013, all of the 2012 metal commodity swap contracts have expired and had no value.

The fair value of the Company’s fixed rate senior notes and junior subordinated debentures as of December 31, 2013 and 2012 were determined by utilizing current trading prices obtained from indicative market data. As a result, the fair value measurement of the Company’s senior term loans is considered to be Level 2.

The carrying amounts of the Company’s cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, and accounts payable approximate fair value because of the short term maturity of these instruments and the carrying value of the variable rate senior term loans approximates fair value as the interest rate is variable and approximates current market rates.