Southern California reels from wildfires, causing $250 billion in damages. Insurance costs rise as disasters become more frequent and intense.

The White House has not said how many of the nation's 2.3 million civil-service workers it wants to fire and has given no numbers on the mass layoffs. Roughly 75,000 took a buyout offer last week.

In our view, Allstate has historically had a differentiated model through its use of captive agents and its bundling strategy. That said, the company’s historical returns suggest the advantage it ...