Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of real estate investment trust RAIT Financial Trust (NYSE: RAS) dove more than 20% in intraday trading today after the company reported disappointing third-quarter results.

So what: RAIT has been struggling to keep its head above water ever since the financial meltdown began, and its third-quarter results don't make a very convincing case that things are A-OK quite yet. The REIT reported $0.16 in diluted earnings per share, which was much better than the $0.38-per-share loss last year. However, the profit was driven by gains on debt extinguishment and balance sheet mark-ups, not normal operations. In addition, the bottom line badly missed analyst expectations of $0.26 per share.

Now what: Though real estate has taken a pretty broad drubbing, all real estate investment trusts are not built equal. Health Care REIT (NYSE: HCN), for example, invests in stable health-care properties, while fan favorite Annaly Capital (NYSE: NLY) focuses on mortgage paper that has the backing of government-controlled Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. RAIT, on the flip side, has been mired in red ink, hasn't paid a common dividend since 2008, and has diluted the heck out of shareholders in the meantime. For those reasons -- among others -- RAIT is probably best left for the speculators and day traders.

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