NOTE 6. FAIR VALUE OF FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS

        In January 2010, the FASB amended its standards related to fair value measurements and disclosures, which were effective for interim and annual fiscal periods beginning after December 15, 2009, except for disclosures about certain Level 3 activity which did not become effective until interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2010. The new standard requires us to disclose transfers in and out of Level 1 and Level 2 fair value measurements and describe the reasons for the transfers as well as activity in Level 3 fair value measurements. The new standard also requires a more detailed level of disaggregation of the assets and liabilities being measured as well as increased disclosures regarding inputs and valuation techniques of the fair value measurements. The amended standards do not require retroactive restatement of prior periods. The adoption did not materially impact our Consolidated Financial Statements.

        Fair value is 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 (exit price). We utilize market data or assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability, including assumptions about risk and the risks inherent in the inputs to the valuation technique. These inputs can be readily observable, market corroborated, or generally unobservable. We primarily apply the market approach for recurring fair value measurements and utilize the best available information. Accordingly, we utilize valuation techniques that maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs. We are able to classify fair value balances based on the observability of those inputs. The amended standards establish a fair value hierarchy that prioritizes the inputs used to measure fair value. The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1 measurement) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3 measurement). The three levels of the fair value hierarchy defined by GAAP are as follows:

• Level 1—Quoted prices are available in active markets for identical assets or liabilities as of the reporting date. Active markets are those in which transactions for the asset or liability occur in sufficient frequency and volume to provide pricing information on an ongoing basis. Level 1 primarily consists of financial instruments such as listed equities and publicly traded bonds.

  Level 2—Pricing inputs are other than quoted prices in active markets included in Level 1, which are either directly or indirectly observable as of the reported date. Level 2 includes those financial instruments that are valued using models or other valuation methodologies. These models are primarily industry-standard models that consider various assumptions, including quoted forward prices for commodities, time value, volatility factors, and current market and contractual prices for the underlying instruments, as well as other relevant economic measures. Substantially all of these assumptions are observable in the marketplace throughout the full term of the instrument, can be derived from observable data or are supported by observable levels at which transactions are executed in the marketplace. Instruments in this category include non-exchange-traded derivatives such as over-the-counter forwards and options.

  Level 3—Pricing inputs include significant inputs that are generally less observable from objective sources. These inputs may be used with internally developed methodologies that result in management's best estimate of fair value. At each balance sheet date, we perform an analysis of all instruments subject to fair value accounting under GAAP and include, in Level 3, all of those whose fair value is based on significant unobservable inputs. At December 31, 2011, we did not have any Level 3 financial assets or liabilities, other than those in our pension plan (see Note 12, "PENSION BENEFITS AND OTHER POST RETIREMENT BENEFITS").

        The majority of the assets and liabilities we carry at fair value are available-for-sale (AFS) securities and derivatives. AFS securities are derived from Level 1 or Level 2 inputs. The predominance of market inputs are actively quoted and can be validated through external sources, including brokers, market transactions and third-party pricing services. The fair value measurement of derivatives results primarily from Level 2 inputs. Many of our derivative contracts are valued utilizing publicly available pricing data of contracts with similar terms. In other cases, the contracts are valued using current spot market data adjusted for the appropriate current forward curves provided by external financial institutions. We participate in commodity swap contracts, currency forward contracts and interest rate swaps. When material, we adjust the values of our derivative contracts for counter-party or our credit risk. There were no transfers into or out of Levels 2 or 3 during 2011.

        The following table summarizes our financial instruments recorded at fair value in our Consolidated Balance Sheets at December 31, 2011:

        The substantial majority of our assets were valued utilizing a market approach. A description of the valuation techniques and inputs used for our Level 2 fair value measures are as follows:

        Debt mutual funds—Assets in Level 2 consist of exchange traded mutual funds that lack sufficient trading volume to be classified at Level 1. The fair value measure for these investments is the daily net asset value published on a regulated governmental website. Daily quoted prices are available from the issuing brokerage and are used on a test basis to corroborate this Level 2 input.

        Bank debentures and Certificates of deposit—These investments provide us with a fixed rate of return and generally range in maturity from six months to three years. The counter-parties to these investments are reputable financial institutions with investment grade credit ratings. Since these instruments are not tradable and must be settled directly by Cummins with the respective financial institution, our fair value measure is the financial institutions' month-end statement.

        Government debt securities-non-U.S. and Corporate debt securities —The fair value measure for these securities are broker quotes received from reputable firms. These securities are infrequently traded on a national stock exchange and these values are used on a test basis to corroborate our Level 2 input measure.

        Foreign currency forward contracts—The fair value measure for these contracts are determined based on forward foreign exchange rates received from third-party pricing services. These rates are based upon market transactions and are periodically corroborated by comparing to third-party broker quotes.

        Commodity swap contracts—The fair value measure for these contracts are current spot market data adjusted for the appropriate current forward curves provided by external financial institutions. The current spot price is the most significant component of this valuation and is based upon market transactions. We use third-party pricing services for the spot price component of this valuation which is periodically corroborated by market data from broker quotes.

        Interest rate contracts—We currently have only one interest rate contract. We utilize the month-end statement from the issuing financial institution as our fair value measure for this investment. We corroborate this valuation through the use of a third-party pricing service for similar assets and liabilities.

        The following tables summarize our financial instruments recorded at fair value in our Consolidated Balance Sheets at December 31, 2010:

        Fair value of foreign currency forward contacts and total derivative liabilities on our Consolidated Balance Sheets are not material.

Fair Value of Other Financial Instruments

        Based on borrowing rates currently available to us for bank loans with similar terms and average maturities, considering our risk premium, the fair value and carrying value of total debt, including current maturities, at December 31, 2011 and December 31, 2010, are set forth in the table below. The carrying values of all other receivables and liabilities approximated fair values.