Insider's tip: Heed this banker's advice

CHAMPAIGN – Champaign banker Mark Ballard was recently named one of the top five finalists in a national stock-picking contest.

The value of his portfolio rose 34.32 percent during a MSN Money Strategy Lab competition that ran from July 1 to Dec. 31.

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• Alliance sweetens FutureGen pot
• Rankin man gets prison in drug case
• Court stays order removing McGinty from ballot
• Obituaries

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