* Jobs likely to be asked about iPad and iPhone

* Huge cashpile raises questions about buybacks, dividends

* Shares hovering near $200 bln market cap

* 7 directors to stand for re-election on Thursday, Feb 25

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Apple Inc (AAPL.O) Chief Executive Steve Jobs will hold his annual face-to-face meeting with shareholders on Thursday, and there will be no shortage of questions for a company famously stingy with information.

Economists surveyed by Briefing.com expected January housing starts to rise to an annual rate of 580,000.

"We're continuing to see signs of stabilization," said real estate analyst Mike Larson of Weiss Research. "We had this Olympic ski slope-looking plunge starting in 2005 and 2006, and it looks like we're almost getting to the bottom of that."

Larson said that housing starts picked up in January as the new home supply dwindled.

Stocks are treading water after last week's bruising as prospects brighten that Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke will be appointed to another term.

Major stock indexes are mixed Monday as momentum appears to shift in favor of Bernanke. Last week several Senators expressed doubt about Bernanke's reappointment. But Sen. Dianne Feinstein says Monday that she would back Bernanke.

The Dow Jones industrial average skidded 5.2 percent from Wednesday to Friday of last week as President Barack Obama stepped up his campaign to tighten oversight of banks.

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- A cruise ship came to the rescue of a man who jumped overboard from another cruise ship into the Atlantic Ocean off Florida.

The Carnival Sensation notified the U.S. Coast Guard about 11:15 p.m. Wednesday that a 34-year-old man had gone overboard about 30 miles off Port St. Lucie. The Disney Wonder was in the same area and joined the search.

A Disney rescue boat spotted the man about 12:45 a.m. and took him on board, officials said early Thursday.

A man who police say intentionally jumped overboard from a cruise ship off Florida was rescued by another cruise ship.

The 34-year-old went overboard from the Carnival Sensation at 11:15 p.m. Wednesday about 30 miles off Port St. Lucie, according to the Coast Guard.

The Disney Wonder cruise ship was in the same area and joined the search, spotting the man about an hour-and-a-half later and bringing him on board using a rescue boat, according to Coast Guard Petty Officer Nick Ameen.

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- A cruise ship came to the rescue of a man overboard in the Atlantic off Florida.

The Carnival Sensation notifed the U.S. Coast Guard around 11:15 p.m. Wednesday that a 34-year-old man had gone overboard about 30 miles off Port St. Lucie. The Disney Wonder was in the same area and joined the search.

Coast Guard Petty Officer Nick Ameen said early Thursday that a Disney rescue boat spotted the man and brought him on board.

Four people out for a sailing lesson on the windswept Potomac River got unexpected practice treading water yesterday before being plucked from the cold currents by the Coast Guard and the D.C. fire department, authorities said.

The Coast Guard said it received a report of the capsized boat about 11 a.m. in the Alexandria area. The sailboat was estimated to be 17 to 19 feet long.

"The wind picked up, and they were gone," said Alan Etter, a spokesman for the D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department.