Invest in China by Starting Small

Jim Cramer's a buyer of Bucyrus(BUCY Quote). I've been a fan of Bucyrus since I came across it in late August 2008. Back then, I grabbed the coattails of the top of the roller coaster and rode it down to $62 from $67. If I liked it then, imagine how much I like it now at $23, on its way back up?

Trading up more than 100% from its low, why is this growing company so cheap with a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.86? I've got one idea. Opportunity cost. If you want to play China the right way, right now, you have to start small and work your way up to see the big picture.

Bucyrus makes mining equipment. To set the stage, Bucyrus's P/E is 6.8 and is selling at 1.7 times book value. Let's look at some undervalued oil and coal companies that may use this kind of equipment and are less than half as expensive as Bucyrus with respect to both metrics.

Puda Coal (PUDC.OB Quote) is being featured at the China Rising Investment Conference in New York on Monday. Puda Coal is a supplier of metallurgical coking coal to the industrial sector in China. The company is currently in the process of vertically integrating its supply chain. Goldman Sachs just upgraded the entire coal industry. The reason for upgrading the industry is mostly because of China. Looking at these numbers, I'm going to agree with Goldman.

Longwei Petroleum (LPIH.OB Quote) is one of the leading diesel, gasoline, fuel oil and solvent oil distributors/wholesalers in Taiyuan City, China. The company's expansion is being financed through its working capital. Bank loans in China have been unbearably tough to get, so this is a strong point.