Not the Next Google?

A few years ago I was thinking about how nice Google would have looked in my portfolio when Baidu.com, a major Chinese search engine, announced its planned initial public offering (IPO). I thought there couldn't be anything better - the up-andcoming China market combined with its own version of Google. Well, by the time my order went through, the price per share was over $150, and when it fell, it fell hard to less than $100. Needless to say, I lost a good amount because I forgot the first rule: If it's too good to be true and you have to act now, walk away and find something better.

- N.H., online

The Fool Responds: Baidu.com would still have been good to you, had you hung on. It was recently trading around $250 per share, after surpassing $400 earlier in the year. Still, it's smart to be wary of IPOs, as they're often for companies without strong, established track records, and their prices can be especially volatile.

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