Investments

washington -- Mitt Romney twice emphasized his unique business background when he and eight other Republican presidential candidates faced off in a debate last week in Iowa. "I've spent the last, as I've told you, 25 years in the private sector," former Massachusetts Gov. Romney declared at one point. "I understand why jobs come and why jobs go. I've done business in 20 countries."

If you're a small investor seeking a piece of the Facebook initial public offering, here's the bad news: You're too late and you're too poor. That's the good news too, by the way. Investment frenzies - and stock market veterans have been filling the news media lately with the claim that they've never seen anything like this one - almost never end prettily for the participants. What may have stoked the flames this time were hints that Facebook or its Wall Street underwriters might crack open a window for small investors, who almost never have a shot at high-profile IPOs.

As warehouses go, there are few like Skechers USA Inc.'s new 1.82-million-square-foot distribution center. This warehouse is so big that it takes half a minute to drive from one end to the other at 60 miles per hour. The setup is so advanced that human hands will hardly touch the cargo as it is unpacked, categorized, stacked and prepared for delivery. The building is so green that it uses prevailing winds for ventilation instead of air conditioning. For its new North American operations warehouse, the nation's No. 2 footwear company chose the Inland Empire's Moreno Valley.

WASHINGTON - Even as Americans debate whether to scrap President Obama's healthcare law and its promise of guaranteed health coverage, many far less affluent nations are moving in the opposite direction - to provide medical insurance to all citizens. China, after years of underfunding healthcare, is on track to complete a three-year, $124-billion initiative projected to cover more than 90% of the nation's residents. Mexico, which a decade ago covered less than half its population, just completed an eight-year drive for universal coverage that has dramatically expanded Mexicans' access to life-saving treatments for diseases such as leukemia and breast cancer.

David Joyce marched his way to the front of the U.S. immigration line using his pocketbook, sinking half a million dollars into a Vermont ski resort. The British citizen had spent years in a futile effort to secure green cards for himself, his wife and their 9-year-old son so they could relocate to sunny Florida. Then, a fellow emigre tipped him off to a little-known federal program that helps foreigners gain permanent U.S. residency by investing in American businesses. Graphic: Number of investors' visas to U.S. "In six months, we had our green cards," said Joyce, 51. "Considering everything we've been through, this was easy.

The federal government took control of Pasadena-based IndyMac Bank on Friday in what regulators called the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history. Citing a massive run on deposits, regulators shut its main branch three hours early, leaving customers stunned and upset. One woman leaned on the locked doors, pleading with an employee inside: "Please, please, I want to take out a portion." All she could do was read a two-page notice taped to the door.

This occasional column will evaluate funds that have stumbled and will consider the hardest question most investors face: whether to stay or go. * In the winter issue of its newsletter last year, the Lindner family of funds boasted: Lindner Dividend "Tops Morningstar National Rankings." "When Morningstar reported on the nation's highest . . . yielding hybrid funds as of November 30, 1998, the Lindner Dividend Fund led all funds in Morningstar's national database at 8.29%." True.

Like many people her age, Fern Wakulich, 84, needed to get more income out of her modest retirement savings. And, like many elderly widows, the Clearwater, Fla., resident was trusting. Far too trusting. After hearing a financial advisor on the radio, she hired him to solve her economic problems. But the advisor was more interested in his income than hers, according to Florida's elected chief financial officer, Tom Gallagher.

Bolstered by the booming 1980s real estate market, Sierra Capital Cos. became one of the biggest real estate investment trust funds in the nation during the decade--with 43,000 investors holding shares in properties worth as much as $600 million. But today, at a time when many other REITs are holding their own despite a nationwide real estate slump, the Sierra funds are compiling one of the worst performance records since the giant Dallas real estate concern Southmark Corp.

Viacom Inc.'s Sumner Redstone, while busy with his takeover bid for Paramount Communications Inc., has continued to be an active buyer of shares in another potential multimedia play: WMS Industries. Chicago-based WMS is the world's leading maker of pinball machines and is a huge name in the coin-operated video game market. The company also is moving into electronic casino gaming devices, such as video lottery terminals.

When Austin Beutner entered the mayor's race last year, it looked like the wealthy former investment banker and onetime city jobs czar might give the Los Angeles business community its best chance in years at regaining influence at City Hall. His abrupt exit from the campaign this week after struggles with fundraising and a poor showing in the polls highlights the decline of political power that was once wielded by the city's business elite. That weakening comes as the business sector's traditional rivals - organized labor and environmental activists - are enjoying increasing influence.

The collector car market, which slumped with the economy, is coming back along with the rest of the auto industry. But don't expect to pick up a classic Tucker or Duesenberg without ponying up money like a Facebook executive. Many of these cars are selling for well over $1 million. By one measure, the value of collectible cars has surged 33% since the depth of the recession in 2009. The Hagerty collector car blue-chip index - a Dow-like gauge that averages the values of 25 of the most sought-after collectible automobiles of the postwar era - climbed to $1.25 million from $940,000 in September 2009.

Austin Beutner, the wealthy former investment banker who struggled to gain traction in his yearlong campaign for Los Angeles mayor, dropped out of the race Tuesday. In an email to supporters, Beutner said he wants to spend more time with his wife and four young children. And in an unusual move, he pledged to pay back every person who contributed to his campaign. His exit comes after months of fundraising struggles, churn among his campaign staff and a recent poll that showed him capturing a dismal 2% of the likely vote in next year's election to replace Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who will be termed out. Beutner says money wasn't a factor in his decision, and said he had been prepared to pump his personal wealth into the campaign to accrue name recognition.

Here is a roundup of alleged cons, frauds and schemes to watch out for. Memorial Day - Memorial Day has become an opportunity for criminals to target veterans as well as active duty military and their families, the Better Business Bureau said in a recent bulletin. Older veterans are often targeted by scammers this time of year, the BBB said. "The unique lifestyle of our service members makes them prime targets for scammers," noted Brenda Linnington, director of the BBB's military division.  "It's imperative that we educate our service members and ensure that the support we give to them equals the effort they make every day on behalf of us. " Some scams target service personnel and their families directly, while others go after people attempting to contribute to military charities.

Bank of America Corp., which has been working to downsize its consumer operations by 30,000 employees, now is targeting highly compensated investment bankers and non-U.S. wealth managers - efforts expected to reduce the job rolls at the bank by 2,000 people. The cuts, first reported in the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, also will cost some commercial bankers their jobs at BofA, the second-largest U.S. bank as measured by assets. The actions include the planned sale of a division handling wealth management in Europe, Latin America and Asia, according to a person briefed on the plans who was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter and requested anonymity.

SACRAMENTO - You might think a tax law that rewards companies for killing California jobs and resurrecting them in another state would be dumped. Very quickly. Especially if it also rewards them for selling off property here and rebuilding elsewhere. Or, put another way, if the law provides a tax incentive not to hire or invest in California in the first place. You'd repeal it. A no-brainer. Makes no sense, except for the companies using the loophole while profiting from selling their products here in the nation's largest consumer market.

More signs emerged Tuesday that the U.S. auto industry may actually be recovering from its deep slump, despite estimates of anemic January sales and Toyota Motor Corp.'s suspending sales of eight vehicle models because of accelerator problems. Ford Motor Co. said it would hire 1,200 workers, and General Motors Co. announced a big investment in manufacturing electric engines. Also, Dutch sports-car maker Spyker Cars said Tuesday that it had struck a deal to acquire Saab from General Motors.

Down in Texas, Jim McIngvale is known as "Mattress Mack." But that doesn't mean he plans to keep his cash in one. After conquering the Houston furniture market with a series of zany commercials that inspire comparisons to Southern California auto dealer Cal Worthington, McIngvale has turned his attention to Hollywood. He is betting $16 million from his own bank account--about 40% of his net worth by his own accounting--on a single film, "Sidekicks."

Barnes & Noble Inc.'s prospects against rivals Amazon.com Inc. and Apple Inc. in the fast-growing digital reader business just got a big lift thanks to a $605-million investment from Microsoft Corp. For the nation's No. 1 bookstore chain, the infusion will help its Nook business better compete against the top-selling Kindle e-reader and iPad tablet computer and relieves some of the pressure on Barnes & Noble to turn a profit on the Nook. It's also a good deal for Microsoft, which is spending barely 1% of its $60-billion cash reserve to gain a bigger presence in the e-reader and tablet markets ahead of the widely anticipated launch of its Windows 8 operating software later this year.