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 sports apparel retailer Genesco (NYSE: GCO) are taking a victory lap today after jumping as high as 15% on very heavy trading volume.

So what: The operator of Lids, Sports Fan-Attic, and Journeys -- among many other retail concepts -- just reported a terrific first quarter of 2012, blowing both sales and earnings estimates out of the endzone. Lids and Journeys led the charge by showing double-digit comparable store growth year over year.

Now what: The sportswear sector has been strong lately as Genesco, Foot Locker (NYSE: FL), and The Finish Line (Nasdaq: FINL) all outran the S&P 500 benchmark over the last year. The retailers are still rather poor substitutes for red-hot equipment designer lululemon athletica (Nasdaq: LULU), whose wares they peddle and whose shares they trail, but then we're talking about a whole 'nother class of risky growth stock. Genesco and its peers are proving their worth as steady-as-she-goes value gainers, with a dash of execution-powered excitement thrown in for good measure.

Interested in more info on Genesco? Add it to your watchlist.