• Industry has holiday perks for travelers
New Orleans tourism officials unveiled Monday an ad campaign they hope will persuade visitors to travel to the city even as they grip their wallets more tightly this holiday season.

• Report: FEMA underrates cost of insurance
The Federal Emergency Management Agency, which racked up $17.4 million in debt in the National Flood Insurance Program after the 2005 hurricanes, doesn't set prices to adequately reflect the cost of the risk in the properties that it insures, leaving taxpayers at risk for picking up the tab, according to a report released Monday by the Government Accountability Office.

• World of money can be a lifelong learning project
Question:When should I start teaching my children about money? How do I start the education process?

• Harbors aren't getting dredged
Giant oil tankers headed for refineries at the Port of Lake Charles have had to go a little lighter in recent months, as silt stirred up by Hurricanes Gustav and Ike has made the Calcasieu River too shallow for many fully loaded ships.

• Job stability
In the first months after Hurricane Katrina, one of the most striking indications of how drastically the labor landscape had changed was the $6,000 bonus offered by Burger King to would-be full-time employees.

• Tourism agency to tap reserve
Bracing for the prospect that Americans will grip their wallets more tightly and cut back on travel, the New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation plans to dip into its reserve next year to finance tourism promotion and marketing efforts.

• Road Home records protected
The Answer Spot addresses post-Hurricane Katrina questions. To submit a question, send it to insurance@timespicayune.com.

• BUSINESS CALENDAR
THIS WEEK

• Light shed on Medicare maze
Seniors 65 or older are facing the annual task of choosing which federal health insurance plan best suits their needs. The six-week annual election period is under way now and closes Dec. 31.

• BUSINESS CALENDAR
THIS WEEK

• BUSINESS PEOPLE
ACADEMIA

• Bargain-hunters crowd store aisles
By 4:20 a.m. Friday, Gramercy resident Lenora Davis had nabbed the leather jacket that was on her list at J.C. Penney at Lakeside Shopping Center in Metairie, and she and her sister were heading to Macy's for its 5 a.m. opening to buy some jeans listed on sale.

• State insurer sheds more policies
On Monday, private insurers will take over responsibility for 13,343 more policies from Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp., a move that will reduce the size of the state-sponsored insurer of last resort to what it was when Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005.

• EAST JEFFERSON REAL ESTATE TRANSFERS
E. JEFFERSON

• NEW ORLEANS REAL ESTATE TRANSFERS
NEW ORLEANS

• ST. BERNARD REAL ESTATE TRANSFERS
ST. BERNARD

• ST. CHARLES REAL ESTATE TRANSFERS
ST. CHARLES

• ST. JOHN REAL ESTATE TRANSFERS
ST. JOHN

• ST. TAMMANY REAL ESTATE TRANSFERS
ST. TAMMANY

• WEST JEFFERSON REAL ESTATE TRANSFERS
W. JEFFERSON

• Whitney eligible for bailout cash
Louisiana's biggest homegrown bank is one step closer to gaining hundreds of millions of dollars from the federal government's bailout of the financial system.

• CASH GOBBLER
As consumers sit down to the national holiday best celebrated around the dining table, number crunchers are touting the low-cost nature of the affair.

• LOCAL BRIEFS
--- No delays at airport ---

• Moret: State needs to shift focus
As Louisiana's energy and maritime industries prospered over the decades, business and political leaders did not necessarily have an inducement to invest in other sectors. But the lack of focus on cultivating a technology-based and entrepreneurial economy has had a profound crippling effect on Louisiana, said Stephen Moret, the state's economic development secretary.

• N.O. jobs defy national trend
While the nation, mired in the worst economic downturn in decades, continued to lose jobs at a torrid pace, the New Orleans metro area added 5,800 jobs in October.

• AUTO BREAKDOWN
THE PROBLEM: Chrysler LLC, Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. all are burning through billions in cash during the worst auto sales slump in 25 years -- so much cash that they may not survive. Last week, their CEOs went to Congress to seek $25 billion in loans but were sent packing in their private jets after giving few details of how they would spend the money.

• LOCAL BRIEFS
--- Pool to present ---

• Gas-rich lake is at stake in feud
In the midst of a rush to tap what could be the biggest natural gas discovery in the country, Louisiana is entrenched in a heated legal battle with the federal government over control of a sprawling lake that holds a portion of the underground treasure.

• TORN OVER CHANGE
After weighing possible locations for more than a year, state and federal leaders are expected to announce this week that they will build a sparkling new LSU-VA hospital campus in downtown New Orleans that will help lure top medical talent to the region and position the city as a hub for the biosciences.

• SUNNY FORECAST
Louisiana residents already have access to some of the most competitive state tax credits available for installing solar panel systems, but a recent move by the federal government offers an even greater incentive.

• Advice if you amend returns
The Answer Spot addresses post-Hurricane Katrina questions. To submit a question, send it to insurance@timespicayune.com.

• Tax rule can slam hard-hit IRAs
The red ink that flows over investment statements practically burns the eyes these days. But it's a crueler sting for older retired individuals since they have less time to benefit from a market rebound.

• Tax rule can slam hard-hit IRAs
The red ink that flows over investment statements practically burns the eyes these days. But it's a crueler sting for older retired individuals since they have less time to benefit from a market rebound.

• BUSINESS PEOPLE
ASSOCIATION

• BUSINESS PEOPLE
ASSOCIATION

• Tax rule can slam hard-hit IRAs
The red ink that flows over investment statements practically burns the eyes these days. But it's a crueler sting for older retired individuals since they have less time to benefit from a market rebound.

• Tax rule can slam hard-hit IRAs
The red ink that flows over investment statements practically burns the eyes these days. But it's a crueler sting for older retired individuals since they have less time to benefit from a market rebound.

• Nine towboat violations found
A fledgling Coast Guard inspection program meant to crack down on the towboat and barge industry has already uncovered several licensing problems aboard vessels traveling through New Orleans.

• Digital media growth effort starts
Greater New Orleans Inc. is launching an initiative to develop the area's digital media industry.

• BUSINESS CALENDAR
THIS WEEK

• BUSINESS CALENDAR
THIS WEEK

• BUSINESS PEOPLE
ACADEMIA

• EAST JEFFERSON REAL ESTATE TRANSFERS
E. JEFFERSON

• NEW ORLEANS REAL ESTATE TRANSFERS
NEW ORLEANS

• ST. BERNARD REAL ESTATE TRANSFERS
ST. BERNARD

• ST. CHARLES REAL ESTATE TRANSFERS
ST. CHARLES

• ST. JOHN REAL ESTATE TRANSFERS
ST. JOHN

• ST. TAMMANY REAL ESTATE TRANSFERS
ST. TAMMANY

• WEST JEFFERSON REAL ESTATE TRANSFERS
W. JEFFERSON

• La. sets sights on jobs with a future
Louisiana is cultivating new high-growth industries -- like nuclear energy and digital media -- that will create jobs and diversify the economy, the state's economic development secretary said Thursday in New Orleans.

• Forbes offers remedies for slump
Magazine editor and economic prognosticator Steve Forbes said the crisis plaguing the country's economy could be washed away by spring if the federal government would suspend the mark-to-market accounting rule for financial institutions and insurers, get rid of the nation's weak-dollar policy, and lower home mortgage interest rates.

• Dallas investor buys CBD building
A Dallas real estate investor taken with the recovery of New Orleans has purchased Place St. Charles, the downtown office building that houses some of the city's premier law firms, banks and energy companies.

• Port set to sell land along Industrial Canal
The Port of New Orleans is poised to sell nearly 30 acres along the Industrial Canal, continuing the agency's recent strategy of shedding property it owns along the waterway.

• LOCAL BRIEFS
--- McMoRan well to begin ---