U.S. property insurers like Travelers Cos. Inc. and Chubb Corp. were expecting a relatively mild fourth quarter for catastrophe losses, but a series of punishing storms across the country in December may have blown away those estimates.

That could add more reason for investors to sell property insurance shares, already under pressure from a weak market, limited pricing power and depressed valuations.

Floods in Southern California, a blizzard in the Northeast and deadly tornadoes in the South lashed the country during the holiday season.

Add to that a storm in early October that roiled the Midwest and South and ranks as one of the five worst in the world for the year, and some of the more optimistic estimates may now be endangered.

The House of Representatives joined the Senate yesterday in approving a one-year reauthorization of the nation's flood insurance program.

The measure, S. 3814, will extend the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) until Sept. 30, 2011. The measure now goes to President Obama for his signature.

If Congress had not acted, the program would have expired next week on Sept. 30.

The vote leaves for the future any reforms of the program, which is $18 billion in debt.

But the insurance industry welcomed the extension after several years of lapses and short term rescues. This year alone, Congress allowed the program to lapse four times. During these lapses, new flood insurance policies could not be written, and thousands of real estate closings in flood-prone regions were delayed.

When companies go out of business, their leaders often blame something other than their own performance for the failure. Lehman Bros.'s CEO Richard Fuld said his immense compensation package had nothing to do with his firm's death in 2008.

Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skilling blamed an angry short seller in Florida for bringing down Enron.

And a parade of CEOs has for decades claimed the economy and outside pressures were responsible for General Motors' difficulties, not poor leadership or a broken culture.

But a new study by a University of Iowa business professor suggests that when a company goes under, it's more often than not the result of bad business decisions by its leadership. CEOs, he said, are more than just scapegoats.

"We found that managers of failed firms are less skilled than their peers and the consequences of their incompetence are economically significant," said Tyler Leverty, assistant professor of finance in the Tippie College of Business. "We conclude that yes, managers do matter when companies fail."

Jurors in Virginia have awarded a former Gloucester High School student $5 million for permanent injuries he suffered in a 2006 lunchtime fight.

The jury also awarded Gregory Gagnon interest dating back to the fight, which could increases the award by $1 million.

In awarding the damages, the jury determined that a student who threw the punch and an assistant principal should pay the majority of the damages.

Medical experts for Gagnon said he has permanent, traumatic epilepsy and impaired sleep and other brain-related disorders as a result of the punch and subsequent fall.

The long, flowing black hair that tumbles out of NFL star Troy Polamalu's helmet and down his back has been insured for $1 million by Head and Shoulders, the shampoo brand that is endorsed by the Pittsburgh Steelers player.

The insurance was obtained through Lloyd's of London, which did not reveal what must be done to Polamalu's hair for anyone to collect on the policy.

At nearly three-feet long, Polamalu's hair has been targeted by an opposing NFL player at least once. The Chiefs' Larry Johnson tackled Polamalu by the hair during a 49-yard interception return in a 2006 game.

Polamalu, a five-time Pro Bowl player, wears his hair long as a tribute to his Samoan heritage.