Fools were out and about this week in an investing world jam-packed with actions and ideas. Here are three articles you might find useful as you decide how to invest your money.

The Best Industrial Stock to Weather Economic Uncertainty
 Motley Fool editor and writer Andrew Tonner slipped industrial conglomerate 3M (NYSE: MMM) onto investors' radars, saying that it might not seem exciting, but "when you look under the hood, you certainly find a lot to get excited about."

Comparing 3M to others in the blue-chip industrials sector, including Honeywell International (NYSE: HON) and General Electric (NYSE: GE), Andrew concluded that none matches 3M's all-around yeoman's performance. "Strong across the board, the business just keeps churning year after year, enriching shareholders along the way," he wrote.

Read the article to find out more about 3M and whether it deserves a place in your portfolio.

81 Reasons We Love Warren Buffett
 Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A) (NYSE: BRK-B) CEO and all-around superinvestor Warren Buffett turned 81 on Tuesday. What better way to celebrate than to list 81 reasons Fools love Buffett?

Fool editor Anand Chokkavelu, who owns shares of Berkshire Hathaway, handled the task nicely. Here are three of the 81 reasons:

  • He has the ability to resist the allure of the quick fix or quick buck when longer-term dynamics are at play.
  • He's an eternal optimist in a sound-bite culture that often rewards pessimists.
  • Averaging 20% returns for almost half a century results in beating the S&P 500 78:1!

Read Anand's article to see the whole list and scroll through the comments section on that page to see why Anand, responding to a comment from fellow Fool Matt Koppenheffer, says maybe he should have titled the list "80 Reasons We Love Warren Buffett and 1 Reason We Want to Give Him a Swirlie."

Your Chance at 1,000% Returns
 The Motley Fool's mission is to "educate, amuse, and enrich." Fool contributor Tim Beyers is part of the team taking aim at the educate part in our "Better Investor" series. As a member of the Motley Fool Rule Breakers service, Tim stepped to the chalkboard this week with a lesson on what growth investing is and why investors might want to use the strategy.

Tim uses Chinese search engine Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) as an example of a growth stock deserving investors' attention.

"I'd argue for adding at least a little growth to your portfolio, even if the value style appeals more to your taste and temperament," Tim writes. "Why? Because the growth can do more with less. All it takes is one big winner to overcome a surprising number of losers."

Read Tim's article for more on how growth investing can help you prosper.