Investors Orange County

Orange County residents say that saving for retirement and their children's education are their biggest financial goals. But many aren't saving enough. What many people lack, experts say, is a coherent plan that takes into consideration their current circumstances and long-term objectives. The following hypothetical scenarios show what two fictional families might expect to find when developing such a plan.

Orange County residents say that saving for retirement and their children's education are their biggest financial goals. But many aren't saving enough. What many people lack, experts say, is a coherent plan that takes into consideration their current circumstances and long-term objectives. The following hypothetical scenarios show what two fictional families might expect to find when developing such a plan.

Individual investors can do well in the stock market. But investment specialists say they see the same mistakes made again and again. Here are some of the most common fallacies. Myth: The stock market was up 26% last year. I'd better move some of my other investments over to stocks because they have the best returns. Reality: That was then, this is now. Stocks can be a key ingredient in a diversified portfolio.

Individual investors can do well in the stock market. But investment specialists say they see the same mistakes made again and again. Here are some of the most common fallacies. Myth: The stock market was up 26% last year. I'd better move some of my other investments over to stocks because they have the best returns. Reality: That was then, this is now. Stocks can be a key ingredient in a diversified portfolio.

At the end of October, Orange County Water District Treasurer Andrew Czorny got a directive from his board: Look into alternatives to keeping the district's $110-million rainy-day fund in the county investment pool. The board's unease over its money--90% of its investment portfolio--was understandable. By then, the pool managed by Orange County Treasurer/Tax Collector Robert L. Citron was earning about 6% a year, with a fantastically high degree of risk.

Wall Street went on the defensive on Friday, downplaying concerns about massive fallout from the Orange County investment fund's troubles and defending the use of so-called derivative securities against another barrage of political criticism. Merrill Lynch & Co. and Morgan Stanley Group, each of which has lent the $18.5-billion Orange County fund about $2 billion with which to buy bonds on credit, said their loans were fully collateralized and that they had no reason to fear losses.

Americans' love affair with the stock market is even more passionate in Orange County, where half of all residents own stock, compared with 43% nationwide, according to a recent Times Orange County Poll. Although county residents still consider their houses to be their biggest single asset, the poll findings clearly demonstrate the region's shift away from real estate and into the stock market as a means of saving for the future and building wealth.

The potential debacle brewing with Orange County's public investment fund will probably slam the California municipal bond market in coming days, but the damage isn't likely to be permanent, many analysts say. That means most investors who directly or through mutual funds own tax-exempt muni bonds issued by or tied to Orange County--or bonds from the other issuers that have money invested in the O.C. fund--should avoid panicking and selling.

The criminal inquiry into former Orange County Treasurer-Tax Collector Robert L. Citron's office focuses on whether he warned investors that the county's portfolio was losing value and on how he planned to guard against losses, according to search warrants served this week.

A securities dealer has been indicted for allegedly masterminding a scam that bilked 35 investors out of more than $1.3 million, prosecutors said Thursday. Robert Corsaut, 46, is charged with 39 counts of mail and securities fraud--crimes he allegedly committed to carry out an 18-month scheme run though his company, Alpha Trust. A federal grand jury in Los Angeles returned the indictment this week, Assistant U.S. Atty. John Walsh said. Corsaut, who moved to Tulsa, Okla.

Americans' love affair with the stock market is even more passionate in Orange County, where half of all residents own stock, compared with 43% nationwide, according to a recent Times Orange County Poll. Although county residents still consider their houses to be their biggest single asset, the poll findings clearly demonstrate the region's shift away from real estate and into the stock market as a means of saving for the future and building wealth.

The criminal inquiry into former Orange County Treasurer-Tax Collector Robert L. Citron's office focuses on whether he warned investors that the county's portfolio was losing value and on how he planned to guard against losses, according to search warrants served this week.

At the end of October, Orange County Water District Treasurer Andrew Czorny got a directive from his board: Look into alternatives to keeping the district's $110-million rainy-day fund in the county investment pool. The board's unease over its money--90% of its investment portfolio--was understandable. By then, the pool managed by Orange County Treasurer/Tax Collector Robert L. Citron was earning about 6% a year, with a fantastically high degree of risk.

Wall Street went on the defensive on Friday, downplaying concerns about massive fallout from the Orange County investment fund's troubles and defending the use of so-called derivative securities against another barrage of political criticism. Merrill Lynch & Co. and Morgan Stanley Group, each of which has lent the $18.5-billion Orange County fund about $2 billion with which to buy bonds on credit, said their loans were fully collateralized and that they had no reason to fear losses.

The potential debacle brewing with Orange County's public investment fund will probably slam the California municipal bond market in coming days, but the damage isn't likely to be permanent, many analysts say. That means most investors who directly or through mutual funds own tax-exempt muni bonds issued by or tied to Orange County--or bonds from the other issuers that have money invested in the O.C. fund--should avoid panicking and selling.

A Pasadena couple have pleaded no contest to felony charges 15 years after authorities believe they bilked investors out of millions of dollars and fled to Britain. In an agreement with the district attorney's office, Stanley Sirotin, 74, pleaded no contest last week to stealing more than $150,000 and selling securities by misrepresentation. Sirotin also pleaded no contest to filing a false tax return, the district attorney's office said.

The owner of a Hermosa Beach loan company has pleaded guilty to a felony mail fraud charge related to a scheme in which she defrauded 90 investors of about $7 million, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office said Wednesday. Mary Elaine Perkins, who owned Carlton Financial Enterprises Inc., entered into the plea agreement Monday, said Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office. Parker told investors that she would use their money to make short-term, high-interest loans to residential real estate owners who had difficulty obtaining financing.