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.

I Couldn't Pull the Trigger on These Stocks
Motley Fool Rising Star analyst Alex Pape says Fools can learn a lot from the stocks investors pass up. The man behind the Young Gun Portfolio -- opportunistic investing for the young, and the young at heart -- stepped up this week to tell Fools about three stocks he recently almost bought, but on which he couldn't pull the trigger.

First up was Regis (NYSE: RGS), which owns and/or operates more than 12,000 hair salons. "I passed because I couldn't get comfortable with the company's growth strategy," Alex wrote. "There are only so many haircuts you can do in a given space each day. Therefore, the company grows by building new stores and by acquiring new salon concepts, and I don't have the necessary faith that management is wildly good at that."

Read the article to see what else Alex had to say about Regis, as well as his take on Great Lakes Dredge & Dock (NYSE: GLDD) and Willis Lease Finance.

Are ETFs Predicting a Commodities Crash?
Fool editor and writer Dan Caplinger has one word for commodities investors: cycles. "When they're in favor, commodities can see their prices move upward sharply. But they can plummet just as quickly when the tide shifts," Dan wrote.

On the lookout for signs of which way the commodities market is heading, Dan took special note of action in exchange-traded funds that invest in commodities and concluded that they are "showing some signs that they're at least ready to take a break in the long bull market for the asset class."

Dan's examples include the SPDR S&P Gold ETF (NYSE: GLD) and the iShares Silver Trust (NYSE: SLV), both of which have seen declines in the amount of precious metal they own as investors have exited the funds.

Read Dan's article for more insight on whether recent ETF action signals a long-awaited reversal for commodity prices.

Consider These Investments as QE2 Ends
It's too soon to tell whether the Fed's second round of quantitative easing was a success, says Fool contributor Sean Williams, who suggests that investors turn their attention to finding companies that will benefit from the end of QE2, which attempted to lower long-term interest rates by buying Treasuries in the hope of spurring lending activity.

Sean starts in the financials sector. "[C]onsider just how much extra cash banks and insurers have lying around on their balance sheets following our most prolonged recession in seven decades, and you'll see why higher interest rates could mean big gains in the form of higher net interest income," he wrote. Insurer Wellpoint (NYSE: WLP) is among those that could benefit from higher net interest income; shareholders could in turn benefit from a larger dividend.

Read the article for more of Sean's thoughts on where to invest post-QE2.