Believe me, I share your frustration. I just think the buyback was handled correctly given the 'natural' appreciation that occurred.
The way I look at it, there are two tiers of U.S.-listed Chinese stocks -- those that are taken seriously (BIDU, FMCN, etc.) and get valuations of 20-40x (and beyond). And then the rest of the pack, which are viewed as garbage. My investment thesis here is that CCME will make the transition at some point to the higher tier. Wish it happened yesterday, but I think that if the management continues to act conservatively, while making huge profits audited by Deloitte, this will happen in time.
From this perspective, buying back shares looks a little desperate to me, I don't think it makes management look confident if they are directly manipulating the share price. And it didn't turn out to be necessary anyway. However, a dividend is another story. If they come out with a business plan that spends money on smart, accretive expansion, PLUS gives shareholders a nice dividend, they will come out looking great and may inch up a bit toward that higher tier of Chinese stocks.
That's how I hope it plays out, anyway, I'll be patient and see what they say - so far I like what they have done.
