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 Netherlands-based chip designer NXP Semiconductors (Nasdaq: NXPI) took a flying leap this morning, soaring as high as 15.5% above Monday's closing price on more than twice the average trading volume.

So what: Financial news outlet Bloomberg and tech news site TechCrunch both gushed over the Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPhone 5 adding NXP's near-field communications (NFC) chips and thus overthrowing the entire credit card industry. It's not exactly news, but a reminder for investors that NFC is coming down the pipeline whether we like it or not.

Now what: This happens every time NFC tech makes an appearance in mainstream news, and will keep happening until NXP gains a credible competitor in the NFC space or people get used to hearing about it. For now, the stock has nearly doubled in the last three months, but still looks very reasonably priced next to analog chip rivals Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) or Marvell Technology Group (Nasdaq: MRVL).

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