Your Money: May 17, 1999

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DAMAGE ASSESSMENT Most of the property damage caused by last week's deadly tornadoes in Oklahoma and Kansas should be covered by standard homeowners' policies. But if you live in a flood- or hurricane-prone area, you can't rely on that kind of relief in the event of a natural disaster. Standard policies, you see, don't typically cover flood damage. Indeed, less than a quarter of the 10 million households near the coasts that are most at risk this summer have additional, government-backed flood insurance, which costs about $300 a year (for information, call 800-427-4661). Don't expect the government to come to the rescue, either. Only some 10% of all natural disasters actually qualify for federal assistance. And even in those dire cases, you can usually get only a special, low-interest loan, not cash compensation.

AFTER HOURS Talk about bad market timing. Just as SEC chairman Arthur Levitt was warning last week about the dangers of online trading, Instinet--the network that lets brokerages and mutual funds trade stocks after the closing bell--said it would soon afford retail investors the same privilege. Before long, sleep-deprived traders in their pajamas should be clicking trades through cyberspace all night long, potentially saving money by having their trades executed faster. Retail investors will still route their trades to Instinet through brokers--online and otherwise--but they'll be able to react to late-breaking news. Both the N.Y.S.E. and NASDAQ are also planning to extend trading hours, at least until 9 p.m. For now, the SEC can only counsel restraint; Levitt advises online traders to use limit orders, so they only get a stock at a set price, and avoid buying on margin.

--By Daniel Eisenberg