WILMA NATION'S FIFTH-LARGEST CATASTROPHE - Fitch Ratings says Hurricane Wilma, which struck Florida, could be the fifth-largest U.S. catastrophe loss in history. Fitch, which rates insurance companies, said that should actual insured losses come in at the high end of disaster modelers' expectations of $10 billion, Wilma will have generated the third-largest hurricane loss, behind this year's Katrina and 1992's Andrew. Other top disasters are 9/11 and the Northridge, California, earthquake.

KATRINA AND RITA JOB LOSSES - Job losses from hurricanes Katrina and Rita have passed the half-million mark, with further increases expected when the effects of Wilma are fully known. 

FLOOD CLAIMS - Claims against the federal flood insurance program for damage related to hurricanes Katrina and Rita could exceed $22 billion, requiring an additional $5 billion in borrowing authority for now. Run by FEMA, the flood insurance program can borrow from the U.S. Treasury to cover claims not covered by the premiums it collects to cover homeowners and small businesses.  Congress had already increased the program's borrowing authority in September from $1.5 billion to $3.5 billion to pay Katrina-related claims.  Critics of the program contend that it is exposed to properties that are repeatedly flooded and that taxpayers are put at risk when substantial borrowing is required to pay claims.  "A sizable portion of properties continue to receive insurance rates that are far from actuarially sound," Sen. Richard Shelby, Senate Banking Committee chairman, said in a prepared statement.  "I believe the continuation of subsidized rates, particularly for properties that have suffered repetitive losses and those that are vacation homes, represents a financial drain on the flood insurance fund while encouraging families to remain living in harm's way."

INFLATION AT 14-YEAR ANNUAL HIGH  - U.S. consumer prices jumped 1.2% in September, the biggest increase in more than 25 years.  Consumer inflation has now risen 4.7% in the past 12 months, the highest since 1991. Core inflation is up 2% in the past year, down from 2.1% in August.

COLUMBUS AND LAFAYETTE - Columbus Life and Lafayette Life have reached a co-marketing agreement to strengthen and broaden their distribution networks. Both companies are members of Western & Southern Financial Group. Columbus Life's contribution to the strategic alliance includes a portfolio of universal life and variable universal life insurance products with built-in no-lapse guarantees and a competitive term product with a return of premium option. Lafayette Life is contributing its updated whole life portfolio, as well as its competitive equity-indexed annuity product.  They also offer pension sales, service and administration and group life and ancillary products for businesses.

REFCO - IPO TO BANKRUPTCY – Just a few weeks after its IPO and disclosing that its chief executive had hidden debt before the company went public in August, REFCO has gone from the largest independent U.S. futures and commodities brokerage to bankruptcy. Expect to hear more, but REFCO is history.

MORE ON CORPORATE ETHICS – A survey by the Hudson Highland Group shows about a third of U.S. workers say they've seen co-workers act unethically.  The survey did not specify what unethical behaviors workers witnessed. "It could range from as simple as stealing office supplies, pencils, notepads, all the way up to shredding documents, bribing officials, the really bad stuff."  However, only half of the workers who witnessed unethical activities reported the situation to their managers. Government workers were likelier than others to say they'd seen a lack of ethics, with 38% noting they'd witnessed it versus 29% of entrepreneurs and 31% of workers in private-sector firms, according to the survey.