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There are many reasons why a business needs to keep an eye on the competition. From pricing your products competitively, to gauging how similar businesses are reacting to market forces, to understanding where you stand in the highly competitive space of online search rankings.

But how do you effectively sneak a peek at the competition, or even snuggle up to it? Here are five tips for researching and getting to know your competition.

1. Use the Web to Your Advantage

The easiest way to check out the competition, as well as what customer’s think of them, is to go online.

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By Kristina Peterson

NEW YORK—U.S. stocks advanced, as economic data took the edge off deflationary fears and earnings reports from Home Depot and Wal-Mart raised hopes that consumer spending was stabilizing.

On track to snap its five-day streak of declines, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was recently up 51 points. Investors who had flocked to bonds amid the recent flood of disappointing economic data on Tuesday headed into stocks as data suggested deflation may not be imminent.

“There’s been such a run to Treasurys and hiding under a rock because deflation was such a worry,” said Bill Stone, chief investment strategist at PNC Wealth Management. Tuesday’s rise in July U.S. p

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A funny thing happened when Morningstar performed a study on whether expense ratios or Morningstar “star” ratings are better at predicting higher future mutual fund returns. Expense ratios won. Russel Kinnel, Morningstar’s director of mutual fund research and study author, wrote about the and these quotes sum it up:

If there’s anything in the whole world of mutual funds that you can take to the bank, it’s that expense ratios help you make a better decision. In every single time period and data point tested, low-cost funds beat high-cost funds. [...] Investors should make expense ratios a primary test in fund selection. They are

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Thinking of investing in social media but struggling to know where to start?

According to a December 2009 survey by Ad-ology, 46 percent of small business owners said they wish they knew more about social media.

And, while coming up with a social media strategy is one thing (the resources at the end of this article provide pointers on this), it also helps to have a basic understanding of what each of the major social media sites can and can’t do for your small business and its customers.

Here’s a quick 101 on how to best leverage the top three social networking sites — Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

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Payment protection insurance is a policy that most of us have heard of by now. However, did you know that a huge amount of PPI policies are mis sold every single year? Recently, we found a website for a company that deals with compensation claims for mis sold PPI. If you are unsure of what PPI is, it is this: a protective policy designed to guard the policy holder in the event that they have an accident or develop an illness that leaves them unable to work and therefore unable to pay off their credit card and loan debt.

There are many contributing factors to indicate a mis sold payment protection insurance policy. Read more…