BUSINESS MEMO: STOCK-PICK RANKING

The recommended stock portfolio of Edward Jones, a financial-services company, has achieved the highest overall return among 15 major brokerage firms for 1997, with a return of 39.5 percent, according to the Wall Street Journal's latest quarterly stock-picking survey.

The Cape Girardeau Edward Jones Investment representatives are Joe Domian and Donna Domian, 1749-I Independence, and Robert N. Etherton, 215 N. Sprigg. Timothy Gutwein, 502 B. W. Main, is the Jackson representative.

Jones, headquartered in St. Louis, has more than 3,700 offices in 50 states.

"It's an honor to fare so well, but our objective is not to win a quarterly contest," said Joe Domian. "A long-term ownership of high-quality investments for our clients is smarter than trying to time the ups and downs of the stock market."

A.G. Edwards, also headquartered in St. Louis, finished third in stock-picking for 1997, posting a 38.2 percent gain for the year. Edwards, which has more than 590 offices in 48 states and the District of Columbia, has a Cape Girardeau office at 97 N. Kingshighway.