the impact of the new accounting guidance to our consolidated statement of operations was not meaningful for the years ended december 31 , 2019 and 2018 , and we do not story_separator_special_tag the following discussion and analysis provides information concerning our results of operations and financial condition . this discussion should be read in conjunction with our accompanying consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto . additionally , see note 3 in the accompanying consolidated financial statements for an overview of new accounting standards that we have adopted or that we plan to adopt that have had or may have an impact on our financial statements . overview during may 2014 , the board of directors of liberty media corporation and its subsidiaries ( “ liberty ” ) authorized management to pursue a plan to spin-off to its stockholders common stock of a wholly-owned subsidiary , liberty broadband corporation ( “ liberty broadband ” ) , and to distribute subscription rights to acquire shares of liberty broadband 's common stock ( the “ broadband spin-off ” ) . at the time of the broadband spin-off , liberty broadband was comprised of , ( i ) liberty 's former interest in charter communications , inc. ( “ legacy charter ” ) , ( ii ) liberty 's former wholly-owned subsidiary trueposition , inc. ( “ trueposition ” ) , ( iii ) liberty 's former minority equity investment in time warner cable , inc. ( “ time warner cable ” , “ twc ” , “ legacy time warner cable ” or “ legacy twc ” ) , ( iv ) certain deferred tax liabilities , as well as liabilities related to the time warner cable written call options and ( v ) initial indebtedness , pursuant to margin loans entered into prior to the completion of the broadband spin-off . the broadband spin-off was accounted for at historical cost due to the pro rata nature of the distribution to holders of liberty common stock . in the broadband spin-off , record holders of liberty series a , series b and series c common stock received one-fourth of a share of the corresponding series of liberty broadband common stock for each share of liberty common stock held by them , with cash paid in lieu of fractional shares . in addition , following the completion of the broadband spin-off , on december 10 , 2014 , stockholders received a subscription right to acquire one share of series c liberty broadband common stock for every five shares of liberty broadband common stock . the broadband spin-off and rights offering were intended to be tax-free to stockholders of liberty . during september 2015 , liberty entered into a closing agreement with the irs which provided that the broadband spin-off qualified for tax-free treatment . on may 18 , 2016 , time warner cable merged with legacy charter ( the “ time warner cable merger ” ) . in connection with the time warner cable merger , legacy charter underwent a corporate reorganization , resulting in cch i , llc , a former subsidiary of legacy charter ( “ charter ” ) , becoming the new publicly traded parent company . also on may 18 , 2016 , the previously announced acquisition of bright house networks , llc ( “ bright house ” or “ legacy bright house ” ) from advance/newhouse partnership ( “ a/n ” ) by charter ( the “ bright house transaction ” ) was completed . in connection with the time warner cable merger and bright house transaction , liberty broadband entered into certain agreements with legacy charter , charter , liberty interactive corporation ( “ liberty interactive ” ) and time warner cable . in connection with the time warner cable merger and bright house transaction ( collectively , the “ transactions ” ) , liberty broadband exchanged its shares of time warner cable for shares of charter and purchased additional shares of charter . as a result , and pursuant to proxy agreements with gci liberty , inc. and a/n , liberty broadband controls 25.01 % of the aggregate voting power of charter . in addition , in connection with the time warner cable merger , liberty broadband funded its purchase of shares of charter class a common stock using proceeds of $ 4.4 billion related to subscriptions for approximately 78.3 million newly issued shares of liberty broadband series c common stock . the financial information represents a combination of the historical financial information of skyhook , liberty broadband 's interest in charter , liberty 's former minority equity investment in time warner cable and certain deferred tax liabilities . this financial information refers to the combination of the aforementioned subsidiary , investments , and financial instruments , as “ liberty broadband , ” “ the company , ” “ us , ” “ we ” and “ our ” here and in the notes to the consolidated financial statements , except as the context otherwise requires . strategies and challenges executive summary skyhook holding , inc. ( formerly known as “ trueposition ” ) markets and sells two primary products : ( 1 ) a location determination service called the precision location solution ; and ( 2 ) a location intelligence and data insights service called geospatial insights . skyhook 's revenue is derived from the sale and integration of its precision location solution ( including the licensing of software and data components that make up that solution ) and the licensing of geospatial insights data . story_separator_special_tag the decreases in both years were primarily due to a decrease in depreciation and amortization as certain assets acquired from legacy twc and legacy bright house become fully depreciated offset by an increase in depreciation as a result of more recent capital expenditures . other expenses increased $ 545 million and $ 457 million in the years ended december 31 , 2019 and 2018 , respectively , compared to the corresponding prior year periods . net interest expense increased by $ 257 million and $ 450 million during the years ended december 31 , 2019 and 2018 , respectively , as compared to the corresponding prior year periods . the increase in 2019 , as compared to the corresponding prior period , is primarily due to an increase in weighted average debt outstanding of approximately $ 3.0 billion primarily as a result of the issuance of notes in 2019 for general corporate purposes including stock buybacks and debt repayments , offset by a decrease in weighted average interest rates . the increase in 2018 as compared to the corresponding prior year period was primarily due to an increase in weighted average debt outstanding of approximately $ 6.6 billion primarily as a result of the issuance of notes in 2018 for general corporate purposes including stock buybacks . in addition , other expenses increased in 2019 , as compared to the corresponding prior year period , due to other pension costs primarily as a result of a remeasurement loss recorded in 2019 versus a remeasurement gain in 2018. income tax expense increased $ 259 million and $ 9.3 billion during the years ended december 31 , 2019 and 2018 , respectively , compared to the corresponding prior year periods . the income tax expense in 2019 was primarily the result of higher pretax income and lower benefit from state tax rate changes . the income tax benefit for the year ended december 31 , 2017 of $ 9.1 billion was primarily due to the impact of the 2017 tax reform , which was enacted on december 22 , 2017. gain ( loss ) on dilution of investment in equity affiliate the loss on dilution of investment in affiliate during 2019 and 2018 is primarily due to the issuance of charter common stock from the exercise of stock options held by employees and other third parties , as prices below liberty broadband 's book basis per share . as liberty broadband 's ownership in charter changes due to exercises of charter warrants and stock options , a loss is recorded with the effective sale of common stock , because the exercise price of charter warrants or stock options is typically lower than the book value of the charter shares held by liberty broadband . realized and unrealized gains ( losses ) on financial instruments , net realized and unrealized gains on financial instruments , net decreased $ 2.5 million and increased $ 0.6 million for each of the years ended december 31 , 2019 and 2018 , respectively , as compared to the corresponding prior year periods . the realized gains during the years ended december 31 , 2019 , 2018 and 2017 were related to zero-strike call options ( see note 4 in the accompanying consolidated financial statements for additional discussion ) . other , net other , net increased $ 396 thousand and decreased $ 468 thousand for the years ended december 31 , 2019 and 2018 , respectively , as compared to the corresponding prior year periods . the increase in 2019 was primarily due to increases in dividend and interest income as a result of higher interest rates in the current year . the decrease in 2018 was primarily due to decreases in dividend and interest income as a result of lower cash balances during 2018. income taxes our effective tax rate for the years ended december 31 , 2019 , 2018 and 2017 was 24 % , 24 % and 17 % , respectively . during 2019 , our effective tax rate was higher than the federal tax rate of 21 % primarily due to state income taxes . during 2018 , our effective tax rate was higher than the federal tax rate of 21 % primarily due to state income taxes , partially offset by unrealized gains attributable to the company 's own stock which is not recognized for tax purposes . during 2017 , our effective tax rate was lower than the federal tax rate of 35 % primarily due to the effect of changes in the u.s. federal corporate tax rate from 35 % to 21 % on deferred taxes partially offset by the effect of state income taxes . ii-9 net earnings ( losses ) we had net earnings of $ 117.2 million , $ 70.0 million and $ 2,033.7 million for the years ended december 31 , 2019 , 2018 and 2017 , respectively . the change in net earnings ( losses ) was the result of the above-described fluctuations in our revenue , expenses and other gains and losses . story_separator_special_tag investment is below our carrying value ; the severity of the decline ; and the financial condition , operating performance and near term prospects of the investee . in addition , we consider the reason for the decline in fair value , be it general market conditions , industry specific or investee specific ; analysts ' ratings and estimates of 12 month share price targets for the investee ; changes in stock price or valuation subsequent to the balance sheet date ; and our intent and ability to hold the investment for a period of time sufficient to allow for a recovery in fair value . fair value of our publicly traded cost and equity investments is based on the market prices of the investments at the balance sheet date . impairments are calculated as the difference between our carrying value and our estimate of fair value . as our

liquidity and capital resources as of december 31 , 2019 , substantially all of our cash and cash equivalents are invested in u.s. treasury securities , other government securities or government guaranteed funds , aaa rated money market funds and other highly rated financial and corporate debt instruments . the following are potential sources of liquidity : available cash balances , cash generated by the operating activities of our privately-owned subsidiaries ( to the extent such cash exceeds the working capital needs of the subsidiaries and is not otherwise restricted ) , proceeds from asset sales , monetization of our other investments , outstanding debt facilities including $ 425 million available to be drawn under our amended 2017 margin loan agreement until august 19 , 2020 , debt and equity issuances , and dividend and interest receipts . as of december 31 , 2019 , liberty broadband had a cash balance of $ 49.7 million . replace_table_token_9_th ​ the increase in cash used by operating activities in 2019 was primarily driven by the decrease in operating income , offset slightly by timing differences in working capital accounts . the decrease in cash used by operating activities in 2018 was primarily driven by the increase in operating income , as well as the timing of differences in cash receipts and payments . during the year ended december 31 , 2019 , net cash flows provided by financing activities were primarily from additional borrowing on the amended 2017 margin loan facility and the settlement of zero-strike call options , partially offset by the purchase of zero-strike call options and payment of withholding taxes on net settlements of stock-based compensation . during the year ended december 31 , 2018 , net cash flows from financing activities were primarily related to the settlement of zero-strike call options , as well as the modification to the amended 2017 margin loan agreement and a drawdown of $ 25 million on the amended 2017 margin loan agreement .


 Write a concise suspicious activity report of the following text delimited by triple backquotes. Return your response as a formal report which covers the key points highlighting the location,dates,entity names and account holder information in chronological order of the text.
     ```liquidity and capital resources as of december 31 , 2019 , substantially all of our cash and cash equivalents are invested in u.s. treasury securities , other government securities or government guaranteed funds , aaa rated money market funds and other highly rated financial and corporate debt instruments . the following are potential sources of liquidity : available cash balances , cash generated by the operating activities of our privately-owned subsidiaries ( to the extent such cash exceeds the working capital needs of the subsidiaries and is not otherwise restricted ) , proceeds from asset sales , monetization of our other investments , outstanding debt facilities including $ 425 million available to be drawn under our amended 2017 margin loan agreement until august 19 , 2020 , debt and equity issuances , and dividend and interest receipts . as of december 31 , 2019 , liberty broadband had a cash balance of $ 49.7 million . replace_table_token_9_th ​ the increase in cash used by operating activities in 2019 was primarily driven by the decrease in operating income , offset slightly by timing differences in working capital accounts . the decrease in cash used by operating activities in 2018 was primarily driven by the increase in operating income , as well as the timing of differences in cash receipts and payments . during the year ended december 31 , 2019 , net cash flows provided by financing activities were primarily from additional borrowing on the amended 2017 margin loan facility and the settlement of zero-strike call options , partially offset by the purchase of zero-strike call options and payment of withholding taxes on net settlements of stock-based compensation . during the year ended december 31 , 2018 , net cash flows from financing activities were primarily related to the settlement of zero-strike call options , as well as the modification to the amended 2017 margin loan agreement and a drawdown of $ 25 million on the amended 2017 margin loan agreement .
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 Suspicious Activity Report : the impact of the new accounting guidance to our consolidated statement of operations was not meaningful for the years ended december 31 , 2019 and 2018 , and we do not story_separator_special_tag the following discussion and analysis provides information concerning our results of operations and financial condition . this discussion should be read in conjunction with our accompanying consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto . additionally , see note 3 in the accompanying consolidated financial statements for an overview of new accounting standards that we have adopted or that we plan to adopt that have had or may have an impact on our financial statements . overview during may 2014 , the board of directors of liberty media corporation and its subsidiaries ( “ liberty ” ) authorized management to pursue a plan to spin-off to its stockholders common stock of a wholly-owned subsidiary , liberty broadband corporation ( “ liberty broadband ” ) , and to distribute subscription rights to acquire shares of liberty broadband 's common stock ( the “ broadband spin-off ” ) . at the time of the broadband spin-off , liberty broadband was comprised of , ( i ) liberty 's former interest in charter communications , inc. ( “ legacy charter ” ) , ( ii ) liberty 's former wholly-owned subsidiary trueposition , inc. ( “ trueposition ” ) , ( iii ) liberty 's former minority equity investment in time warner cable , inc. ( “ time warner cable ” , “ twc ” , “ legacy time warner cable ” or “ legacy twc ” ) , ( iv ) certain deferred tax liabilities , as well as liabilities related to the time warner cable written call options and ( v ) initial indebtedness , pursuant to margin loans entered into prior to the completion of the broadband spin-off . the broadband spin-off was accounted for at historical cost due to the pro rata nature of the distribution to holders of liberty common stock . in the broadband spin-off , record holders of liberty series a , series b and series c common stock received one-fourth of a share of the corresponding series of liberty broadband common stock for each share of liberty common stock held by them , with cash paid in lieu of fractional shares . in addition , following the completion of the broadband spin-off , on december 10 , 2014 , stockholders received a subscription right to acquire one share of series c liberty broadband common stock for every five shares of liberty broadband common stock . the broadband spin-off and rights offering were intended to be tax-free to stockholders of liberty . during september 2015 , liberty entered into a closing agreement with the irs which provided that the broadband spin-off qualified for tax-free treatment . on may 18 , 2016 , time warner cable merged with legacy charter ( the “ time warner cable merger ” ) . in connection with the time warner cable merger , legacy charter underwent a corporate reorganization , resulting in cch i , llc , a former subsidiary of legacy charter ( “ charter ” ) , becoming the new publicly traded parent company . also on may 18 , 2016 , the previously announced acquisition of bright house networks , llc ( “ bright house ” or “ legacy bright house ” ) from advance/newhouse partnership ( “ a/n ” ) by charter ( the “ bright house transaction ” ) was completed . in connection with the time warner cable merger and bright house transaction , liberty broadband entered into certain agreements with legacy charter , charter , liberty interactive corporation ( “ liberty interactive ” ) and time warner cable . in connection with the time warner cable merger and bright house transaction ( collectively , the “ transactions ” ) , liberty broadband exchanged its shares of time warner cable for shares of charter and purchased additional shares of charter . as a result , and pursuant to proxy agreements with gci liberty , inc. and a/n , liberty broadband controls 25.01 % of the aggregate voting power of charter . in addition , in connection with the time warner cable merger , liberty broadband funded its purchase of shares of charter class a common stock using proceeds of $ 4.4 billion related to subscriptions for approximately 78.3 million newly issued shares of liberty broadband series c common stock . the financial information represents a combination of the historical financial information of skyhook , liberty broadband 's interest in charter , liberty 's former minority equity investment in time warner cable and certain deferred tax liabilities . this financial information refers to the combination of the aforementioned subsidiary , investments , and financial instruments , as “ liberty broadband , ” “ the company , ” “ us , ” “ we ” and “ our ” here and in the notes to the consolidated financial statements , except as the context otherwise requires . strategies and challenges executive summary skyhook holding , inc. ( formerly known as “ trueposition ” ) markets and sells two primary products : ( 1 ) a location determination service called the precision location solution ; and ( 2 ) a location intelligence and data insights service called geospatial insights . skyhook 's revenue is derived from the sale and integration of its precision location solution ( including the licensing of software and data components that make up that solution ) and the licensing of geospatial insights data . story_separator_special_tag the decreases in both years were primarily due to a decrease in depreciation and amortization as certain assets acquired from legacy twc and legacy bright house become fully depreciated offset by an increase in depreciation as a result of more recent capital expenditures . other expenses increased $ 545 million and $ 457 million in the years ended december 31 , 2019 and 2018 , respectively , compared to the corresponding prior year periods . net interest expense increased by $ 257 million and $ 450 million during the years ended december 31 , 2019 and 2018 , respectively , as compared to the corresponding prior year periods . the increase in 2019 , as compared to the corresponding prior period , is primarily due to an increase in weighted average debt outstanding of approximately $ 3.0 billion primarily as a result of the issuance of notes in 2019 for general corporate purposes including stock buybacks and debt repayments , offset by a decrease in weighted average interest rates . the increase in 2018 as compared to the corresponding prior year period was primarily due to an increase in weighted average debt outstanding of approximately $ 6.6 billion primarily as a result of the issuance of notes in 2018 for general corporate purposes including stock buybacks . in addition , other expenses increased in 2019 , as compared to the corresponding prior year period , due to other pension costs primarily as a result of a remeasurement loss recorded in 2019 versus a remeasurement gain in 2018. income tax expense increased $ 259 million and $ 9.3 billion during the years ended december 31 , 2019 and 2018 , respectively , compared to the corresponding prior year periods . the income tax expense in 2019 was primarily the result of higher pretax income and lower benefit from state tax rate changes . the income tax benefit for the year ended december 31 , 2017 of $ 9.1 billion was primarily due to the impact of the 2017 tax reform , which was enacted on december 22 , 2017. gain ( loss ) on dilution of investment in equity affiliate the loss on dilution of investment in affiliate during 2019 and 2018 is primarily due to the issuance of charter common stock from the exercise of stock options held by employees and other third parties , as prices below liberty broadband 's book basis per share . as liberty broadband 's ownership in charter changes due to exercises of charter warrants and stock options , a loss is recorded with the effective sale of common stock , because the exercise price of charter warrants or stock options is typically lower than the book value of the charter shares held by liberty broadband . realized and unrealized gains ( losses ) on financial instruments , net realized and unrealized gains on financial instruments , net decreased $ 2.5 million and increased $ 0.6 million for each of the years ended december 31 , 2019 and 2018 , respectively , as compared to the corresponding prior year periods . the realized gains during the years ended december 31 , 2019 , 2018 and 2017 were related to zero-strike call options ( see note 4 in the accompanying consolidated financial statements for additional discussion ) . other , net other , net increased $ 396 thousand and decreased $ 468 thousand for the years ended december 31 , 2019 and 2018 , respectively , as compared to the corresponding prior year periods . the increase in 2019 was primarily due to increases in dividend and interest income as a result of higher interest rates in the current year . the decrease in 2018 was primarily due to decreases in dividend and interest income as a result of lower cash balances during 2018. income taxes our effective tax rate for the years ended december 31 , 2019 , 2018 and 2017 was 24 % , 24 % and 17 % , respectively . during 2019 , our effective tax rate was higher than the federal tax rate of 21 % primarily due to state income taxes . during 2018 , our effective tax rate was higher than the federal tax rate of 21 % primarily due to state income taxes , partially offset by unrealized gains attributable to the company 's own stock which is not recognized for tax purposes . during 2017 , our effective tax rate was lower than the federal tax rate of 35 % primarily due to the effect of changes in the u.s. federal corporate tax rate from 35 % to 21 % on deferred taxes partially offset by the effect of state income taxes . ii-9 net earnings ( losses ) we had net earnings of $ 117.2 million , $ 70.0 million and $ 2,033.7 million for the years ended december 31 , 2019 , 2018 and 2017 , respectively . the change in net earnings ( losses ) was the result of the above-described fluctuations in our revenue , expenses and other gains and losses . story_separator_special_tag investment is below our carrying value ; the severity of the decline ; and the financial condition , operating performance and near term prospects of the investee . in addition , we consider the reason for the decline in fair value , be it general market conditions , industry specific or investee specific ; analysts ' ratings and estimates of 12 month share price targets for the investee ; changes in stock price or valuation subsequent to the balance sheet date ; and our intent and ability to hold the investment for a period of time sufficient to allow for a recovery in fair value . fair value of our publicly traded cost and equity investments is based on the market prices of the investments at the balance sheet date . impairments are calculated as the difference between our carrying value and our estimate of fair value . as our

