People love to find good bargains. In the stock market, one commonly used valuation gauge is the price-earnings ratio or P/E. Be careful of picking up bargains because that can mean buying laggards. But there will be times when highly ranked stocks trade at low multiples.

When it comes to investments, you generally have two choices -- growth or income. Sometimes, you can have both. Stocks tend to be growth-oriented instruments, but some pay respectable dividends. While its nice to earn a few extra percentage points. Don't buy just because it's paying the fattest dividend yield. Often, the biggest dividend yields come from older, more mature companies. Typically, they're not growing by leaps and bounds like many younger companies.

The key to playing a good game of chess at 搈aster?levels is to 揳ccumulate small advantages.?A small advantage in chess might mean having a better protected king or controlling an open file with a rook. The same strategy applies in investing but a small advantage here might mean top management is buying shares or Warren Buffett owns the stock. If you accumulate enough of these advantages you have a tangible edge.

Where do you stand on the trade-off between a small, fast-growing company and a huge, well-established Goliath? The former offers far more upside but subjects the investor to more risk. Can a young IPO fall to zero? Sure, look at Refco. The commodities brokerage went public in 2005 and soon collapsed amid a scandal.

Earnings growth is vital to a high-performance stock. While that's true, there is one thing that can make things even sweeter ?accelerating earnings growth. While a company showing profit growth of in the 20%-to-30% range is nice, one flaunting 25%, 35%, 50% and 75% increases quarter after quarter is even better. Results like this show power. It's telling you that not only business is good, but things are picking up.

I like to invest in stocks that are both owned by great investors and that pay great dividends. When you buy a stock that's owned by a great investor you can have a high degree of confidence that he or she did a lot of research before entering the position. Chances are that their research and knowledge is superior to your own.

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BizSummits LLC today announced financial results for the fourth quarter ending December 31, 2007. Revenues for the fourth quarter 2007 increased 62 percent from the fourth quarter of 2006. New member companies added in the 4th Quarter also jumped by 121% percent to 230. These gains allowed BizSummits to easily outpace the growth of other competitors such as The Corporate Executive Board Company (NASDAQ: EXBD - News), Vistage and other executive groups.

Among the earnings projection stories for Thursday, Jan. 3, from AP Financial News: HOUSTON (AP) -- ConocoPhillips, the third-largest U.S. oil company, said Thursday it produced more oil in the final three months of 2007 than in the third quarter, but likely made less money refining it into gasoline and other products.

AngioDynamics Reaffirms 2008 Profit Outlook, Sees 3rd-Qtr Growth in Product Line Sales QUEENSBURY, N.Y. (AP) -- Medical device maker AngioDynamics Inc. Thursday reaffirmed its fiscal 2008 profit outlook and said it expects the growth of product lines sales to increase during the third quarter.

Finish Line Loss Widens on Weak Sales, Costs From Genesco Deal INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Mall retailer The Finish Line Inc. reported a third-quarter loss of nearly $16 million after being hurt by a sales decline and costs related to its disputed $1.5 billion acquisition of larger rival Genesco Inc. Finish Line's net loss for the quarter ended Dec. 1 totaled $15.9 million, or 34 cents per share. That compares with a loss of $3 million, or 6 cents per share, for the same quarter in 2006.