There's only one month left. If it can pass with no major catastrophic rocket failures, the space insurance sector will look back on a fantastic -- and profitable -- 2009. Insurance for this market can be a tough business, as failures are frequent, and the cost to launch can reach (or even exceed) $250 million. So, it's not always easy to eke out a profit.

Aon (AOC) International Space Brokers forecasts space insurance sector profits of above $400 million this year, making it another strong annual performance for this line. The space carriers have sustained losses of $400 million to $450 million in 2009, but premiums paid to the insurers exceeded $800 million for the first three quarters of the year.

According to Wired Magazine, NASA has finally come to realize that what you say is more important than what you do. Therefore, it has asked the hive mind (the U.S. public) to suggest a new slogan to replace its bland current one, "Explore. Discover. Understand."

Among those that come to my mind are:

• Went to the Moon, invented Tang. For Mars, who knows?
• Weightless sex. Open up your wallets and make it happen.
• Earth -- we're outta here!
• From the increasingly dirty blue marble all the way to the stars!
• One small step for man, one huge debt for mankind.
• NASA: We can see your house from here.
• Look up, look down -- do you see any insulation all around?
• We play with Mercury.
• We go long.
• We decide which way's up.
• Now offering development property with out of this world views!

Add your inspirations! The best suggestion (as judged by me an impartial, anonymous judge) will receive a free space pen that writes upside down!

There's a lot of evidence that advertising and commercialism have gone too far: NPR has commercials, financial aid officers get stock in student loan companies, and the Queen of England might have to start shopping at Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE: WMT). But now, we boldly go where few have gone before -- California Congressman Ken Calvert wants to start making "NASA space assets available for commercial advertising and marketing opportunities."

I guess this is a good idea (one way to fund space exploration), but it just seems like it could get weird. Would they allow anyone to advertise? Could Playboy Enterprises (NYSE: PLA) plaster its trademark bunny across the International Space Station? Or, perhaps for a few million more, have it renamed the Playboy Space Mansion? If we are going to sell ads on the station, it should be done tastefully. But even then, I'm a little skeptical. Do we really need to be spreading materialistic consumer culture into outer space?

MAJOR PAPERS:

• The Wall Street Journal's (subscription required) "Heard on the Street" column wrote that activist investor Carl Icahn has his eyes set on WCI Communities Inc. (NYSE:WCI).
• The Financial Times (subscription required) reports that BAE Systems Plc. ADR (OTC:BAESY) faces a court challenge from anti-arms groups that want to know how private documents belonging to them ended up in the company's hands.

OTHER PAPERS:

• Aviation Week reported that Iran said it is set to attempt a space launch. There is speculation it could be a cover for Iran testing longer-range missile strike technologies.
• Investor's Business Daily's "New America" column focused on Home Inns & Hotels Management Inc. ADR (NASDAQ:HMIN), China's top budget hotel chain. The company went public in October and is in the midst of a building boom, leasing properties and adding franchises in fast growing cities across China.
• BusinessWeek's "Inside Wall Street" column highlighted three companies:
• The Gap Inc. (NYSE:GPS) recently hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE:GS) to explore strategic alternatives. With sales continuing to deteriorate this puts Goldman Sachs analyst Margaret Mager in an awkward position as she has a "Sell" recommendation on Gap.
• Louisiana-Pacific Corp. (NYSE:LPX) is up from $18 in September to $23.33 now, buoyed by rumors that it's a buyout target and by "signs of a bottoming" in homebuilding.
• Intelli-Check Inc.'s (AMEX:IDN) ID-Check technology has been ordered by the U.S. Defense Dept. and will be embedded in handheld computers used by the Pentagon Force Protection Agency.