Hello. My name is Rick, and I'm a growth-aholic.

Don't bother phoning up Warren Buffett for an intervention. I'm in a good place. My addiction to companies that are growing faster than the market average is not a harmful disease. Done right, it is simply the prescription to superior gains.

This doesn't mean that my investing style is better than yours. I'm not that cocky. The thing is that you probably don't know me. You think that just because I proudly wear the "Hello, My Name Is ... Growth Investor" nametag, I'm the type who will bet the farm on Tripod the Three-Legged Horse at the racetrack because of the long odds.

That's not me. That's not your typical growth stock investor, either.

So, let's go ahead and tear down a few myths today.

1. All high price-to-earnings-ratio stocks are growth stocks.
Growth doesn't mean always mean snapping up the expensive. In 1989, shares of Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) could have been had for as little as 10 times trailing earnings. Nine years later, the stock was fetching more than 60 times its profitability.

Coke is a great blue-chip company, but it's clearly one that would never be able to merit that kind of growth multiple. Case-unit volume has grown in small chunks for the pop star. It's just not the prototypical growth stock anymore. A more fitting growth stock in the beverage market would be Monster Energy maker Hansen Natural (NASDAQ:HANS). The company is still in its early growth cycle, yet it's trading for less than 20 times next year's profit targets.

2. Only growth stocks are risky.
I'm not naive. I recognize that growth stocks will be, on average, more volatile than Aunt Minnie's portfolio of utility stocks and convertible bonds. However, there are times when greater chances are being taken on the value end of the spectrum.

Let's look at the computing space. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is growing its Mac sales again. The success of the iPod and an edgy marketing campaign are clearly helping. Shares of Apple aren't cheap at a lofty 4.8 times trailing sales. On the other end of the PC food chain, you have Gateway (NYSE:GTW). The struggling box maker is trading at a mere 0.2 times trailing sales. Gateway may be attracting the vultures and turnaround investors, but I think even they would concede that they're the ones taking the bigger risk by buying into a trembling company like Gateway instead of paying a premium for Apple.

3. Growth stocks tank in bear markets.
There is a flight to quality when the market's knees start to buckle, but quality doesn't mean a retreat from logic. Temporary setbacks eventually reward the companies that continue to grow during the market lulls.

A fast-growing tech company -- early in its infancy -- can outpace that behemoth of a tech conglomerate that seems to be the object of a migrating market's affections. Three of Wall Street's biggest winners in 2002 (while the S&P 500 lost 22%) were octane-fueled Chinese Internet stocks. One was NetEase.com (NASDAQ:NTES), an early favorite in the Rule Breakers newsletter service.

4. I'm a cockeyed optimist.
I tend to emphasize the positive as a growth stock investor, but my best investments have come from picking apart the shortcomings of larger competitors. My portfolio has profited from growth stocks such as Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) and Pixar, because I knew that they were disruptive threats in seemingly sleepy sectors.

So, yes, I'm upbeat by nature, but even as Mr. Brightside, I have no problem trashing myths to bits.

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Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz occasionally watches Mythbusters. He owns shares in Netflix, a Stock Advisor pick. Coca-Cola is an Inside Value recommendation. He is part of the Rule Breakers newsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early. The Fool has a disclosure policy.