1.   Frequent shopping also improves your odds of finding a bargain or an item you particularly need.

2.   Although you define yourself as relatively conservative, I think you could improve the odds of achieving a satisfactory retirement by abandoning Vanguard Short-Term U.S. Treasury fund.

3.   Analysts expect Crestar will try to improve its odds by further boosting market share in its markets through acquisitions of its own.

4.   And Jim Thorpe, a man who loves to gamble, improved his odds of winning his first major championship.

5.   And more and more students are betting that a sports management degree will improve their odds of landing a job.

6.   And travelers willing to fly a roundabout route also improve their odds of eventually getting where they want to go.

7.   And the simple fact of their existence radically improves the odds that we are not alone in the universe.

8.   -- Ask for early-round tickets to improve your odds.

9.   A larger discount on the priciest works would obviously have improved the odds.

10.   A weak jobs report Friday would improve odds for a half-point reduction.