New Orleans homeowner Aloyd Edinburgh, 75, recovered $35,000 from his insurer, out of a policy of $85,000. "Am I satisfied? Hell, no, I'm not satisfied. ... Am I mad? Hell, yeah, I'm mad," he said.

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Whites pursue most Katrina disputes

NEW ORLEANS — Though poor and minority neighborhoods suffered the brunt of Katrina's fury, residents of white neighborhoods have been three times as likely as homeowners in black neighborhoods to seek state help in resolving insurance disputes, according to an Associated Press computer analysis.

More than 700,000 insurance claims have been filed for damage resulting from Katrina in Gulf Coast states, and to date only $14.9 billion out of $25.3 billion in insured losses have been paid, the national risk modeling firm ISO estimates.

In Louisiana, more than 8,000 residents have filed Katrina-related complaints with the state insurance office. Using open-records law, the AP obtained the files of more than 3,000 complaints that have already been settled and analyzed the outcomes by the demographics of the victims' current ZIP code neighborhoods.

Nearly 75 percent of the settled cases were filed by residents living in predominantly white neighborhoods. Just 25 percent were filed by households in majority-black ZIP codes, the analysis found.

The analysis also suggests income was a factor. The average resident who sought state help lives in a neighborhood with a median household income of $39,709, compared with the statewide median of $32,566 in the 2000 Census.

Former Comverse exec pleads guilty

NEW YORK — A former executive with leading voice-mail software maker Comverse Technology Inc. pleaded guilty to conspiracy and securities fraud after agreeing to cooperate in the investigation of a scheme to make millions of dollars by manipulating stock options.

Former head of finance David Kreinberg, 41, told a federal judge in Brooklyn that he conspired with former chief executive Jacob "Kobi" Alexander to backdate the options and to falsify financial statements to conceal the fraud from shareholders.

He faces up to 15 years in prison at sentencing on Feb. 23. He also could be ordered to pay tens of millions of dollars in restitution.

Profits climb for 2 defense contractors

LOS ANGELES — Profits at aerospace and defense contractors Lockheed Martin Corp. and Northrop Grumman Corp. climbed in the third quarter on strong sales of everything from jet fighters and submarines to mail-sorting machines, the companies said Tuesday.

Both expected further strong growth in 2007 based on congressional defense-spending priorities.

Lockheed, based in Bethesda, Md., earned $629 million, or $1.46 per share, in the third quarter, compared with $427 million, or 96 cents per share, in the same period of 2005. Quarterly revenue for the world's largest defense contractor rose 4 percent to $9.6 billion from $9.2 billion.

Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman reported that net income rose to $302 million, or 86 cents per share, from $293 million, or 81 cents per share, in the year-ago period.

The latest period included a charge of $112.5 million, or 20 cents per share, related to a proposed legal settlement with the Department of Justice.

Raytheon Co. plans to release its third-quarter earnings Thursday.

Toyota on track to overtake GM

TOKYO — Toyota Motor Corp.'s global production rose 3.8 percent in September, putting the company on track to overtake General Motors as the world's biggest automaker. It was the company's 23rd consecutive monthly advance.

Surging oil prices in recent years have prompted drivers to favor fuel-efficient cars, including the Prius hybrid, Corolla compact and the midsize Camry, the best-selling model on the U.S. market for eight of the last nine years. Toyota's total output last month came to 696,594 vehicles, the company reported Tuesday. Overseas production climbed 2.8 percent to 340,945 units, while domestic output rose 4.7 percent to 355,649 vehicles.

BP quarterly profit drops by 3.6%

LONDON — BP PLC's third-quarter profit declined by 3.6 percent, slumping on lost Alaskan production, higher taxes in Britain and a sharp drop in gasoline prices.

BP, which has experienced a run of difficulties in the United States, also lowered its average daily oil production forecast for 2006 because of asset sales and snags at several oil fields.

BP, the first of the major oil companies to report quarterly earnings this week, said net income for the three months ended Sept. 30 came to $6.23 billion, compared with $6.46 billion in the third quarter of 2005.

Revenue climbed 4 percent to $70.7 billion.