Ballpark estimates of insured losses from Sandy are $10 billion, while total losses rise to $20 billion. That was grim news for the country's property and casualty insurers, whose stocks have lost about 5% since the storm's potential for destruction first became known.
Wall Street's short sellers no doubt pounced on the companies once trading began Wednesday. Chubb, Travelers, and Hartford all opened in the red. We might never know which shorts made millions -- besides being a secretive bunch, shorts probably don't want the publicity that comes from profiting off Sandy -- but they're another slice of those hitting post-Hurricane pay dirt.
With mass transit snarls and power outages in lower Manhattan, some finance workers went to great lengths to get the trades flowing again on Wednesday.
| Overnight Avg Rate | Latest | Change | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 yr fixed | 3.75% | 3.66% | |
| 15 yr fixed | 2.89% | 2.79% | |
| 5/1 ARM | 2.66% | 2.59% | |
| 30 yr refi | 3.74% | 3.64% | |
| 15 yr refi | 2.89% | 2.79% |
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