The purpose of this case is to explain how a municipality can lose $1.6 billion in financial markets. The case also introduces the concept of "Value at Risk" (VAR), which is a simple method to express the risk of a portfolio. After the string of recent derivatives disasters, financial institutions, end-users, regulators, and central bankers are now turning to VAR as a method to foster stability in financial markets. The case illustrates how VAR could have been applied to the Orange County portfolio to warn investors of the risks they were incurring.