Business news for Sun, 23 Dec 2007 & with words lead+york. 2 news.

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- A new poll of New Hampshire voters finds Sen. Barack Obama and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney holding narrow leads ahead of the state's Jan. 8 primary. In the Democratic race, Obama has nosed ahead of Sen. Hillary Clinton by 30% to 28%, followed by former North Carolina senator John Edwards at 14%, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson at 7% and other candidates pulling down 20% between them. In the Globe's November poll, Clinton, D-N.Y., led Obama, D-Ill., by 35% to 21%. On the Republican side, Romney had a lead of 28% to 25% over Sen. John McCain, while former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani slipped to 14%. Last month, the Globe poll found Romney ahead of Giuliani by 32% to 21%, followed by McCain, R-Ariz., in third at 17%. Meanwhile, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee jumped from 5% in the Globe's November poll to 10%. The survey of likely New Hampshire voters, conducted Dec. 16-20, has a margin of error of plus/minus 4.9 percentage points.

NEW YORK -- It's a time of year when we make promises of self-betterment that we have little intention of keeping. Sure, failing to drop those last few pounds or slog through a big read like "Ulysses" might be disappointing, but losing sight of investment goals can lead to longer-lasting troubles.