Hurricane Sandy is likely to wipe out the fourth quarterearnings of Chubb, Allstate and Arch Capital Group says a CreditSuisse analysts.

In a research report released today, Credit Suisse assumes a $10billion loss from Hurricane Sandy, which continued to gain strengthas it prepared to hit the Northeast around mid-day Monday.

Credit Suisse based its loss analysis on a $10 billion estimatedcost, which its analysts said would make it the fifth costliesthurricane in history.

Meteorologists said its projected path put New York City andLong Island in the danger zone for a huge surge of seawater mademore fearsome by high tides and a full moon.

“This is the worst-case scenario,” said Louis Uccellini,environmental prediction chief for the National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administration.

Credit Suisse projected an 84 percent cut in fourth-quarterestimated earnings for the Hartford, and a 62 percent cut in fourthquarter earnings for American International Group.

It projected a 57 percent cut in fourth quarter earnings forCincinnati Financial, and a 47 percent cut in earnings for XL.

Losses of 40 percent for Travelers and a 39 percent cut forPlatinum Underwriters Holdings were projected by Credit Suisseanalysts Michael Zaremski and Ji Liu.

The report was based on insurers' market, reinsurance programsand historical hurricane losses.

The report made clear that losses were expected to be under $10billion, although “considerable uncertainty” remains, the analystssaid.

The report said that, historically, only Katrina and Andrew havecaused an insured loss of over $20 billion, $48 billion for Katrinaand $25 billion for Andrew, followed by Ike ($13 billion); Wilma($12 billion); and Charley, $9 billion, according to the PropertyClaims Services reports.

The analysts said that Irene, which has a similar path asSandy, produced $4.3 billion to $5 billion of insured losses, perPCS and Aon.

The analysts said that at mid-day Monday the hurricane wasgaining strength and threatening 50 million people.

Forecasters expected the monster hurricane to make a westwardlurch and aim for the coast of New Jersey, blowing ashore Mondaynight or early Tuesday and combining with two other weather systemsto create an epic super-storm.