Fools were out and about this week in an investing world jampacked with actions and ideas. Here are three articles you might find useful as you decide how to invest your money.
The China Market Has Gone Mad
Motley Fool Global Gains advisor Tim Hanson stepped in to help investors in China stocks. "Investors are struggling to separate fact from fiction in the world of small Chinese stocks, and they're making bad decisions as a result," Tim wrote. He noted that a "sloppily researched, negative article" written by an "amateur investor" led to a 10% drop in shares of Yongye International
Other Chinese small-cap companies have been caught in similar circumstances, and Tim wants Fools to know that (1) things aren't always as simple as they seem and (2) the Global Gains team isn't scared of investing in small Chinese companies merely because they are small and in China.
Read the article and let Tim help you figure out what to make of this "Wild West" part of the market.
Buybacks: The Invisible Dividend
Dividends are easy to understand: Your company periodically gives you a certain amount of money for each share of stock you own. Fool contributor Jacob Roche took the idea a bit further, using valuation expert Aswath Damodaran's thoughts on an "augmented dividend" that combines dividends and stock buybacks.
"What makes the idea of augmented dividends especially interesting … is that it can turn a non-dividend-paying stock into a high-yielding one," Jacob wrote, explaining that a buyback yield can be found by dividing the amount a company spends on buybacks by its market capitalization. His examples of companies with healthy buyback yields include AutoZone
See the article for more on understanding the buyback/dividend nexus.
A Gutsy Call on Baidu
If you're a contrarian investor, what do you do when the Wall Street wonks start agreeing with you? Fool contributor Rick Munarriz briefed readers this week on analysts' expectations of more out of Chinese search engine Baidu.com
"[T]he past couple of years of market-thumping results -- and market-walloping capital appreciation -- have come as the welcome byproduct of skeptical analysts who perpetually underestimated the Chinese darling's potential," Rick wrote. "Let's hope there are still more skeptics out there to win over to keep the Baidu bus rolling."
Check out the article to read more about Baidu and get the names of three related Chinese companies Rick likes, including SINA
See a stock in this story you'd like to follow? Add it to My Watchlist, which will find all of our Foolish analysis on it.
