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 financial services broker BGC Partners (Nasdaq: BGCP) made you anything but broker today, launching as high as 10.4% on a sudden late-lunch spike of heavy volume.

So what: CEO Howard Lutnick made an appearance on CNBC's Fast Money just before that spike. Investors clearly ate that appearance up.

Now what: Lutnick used that airtime to argue that small financial firms like BGC are positioned to beat larger rivals because of a lower exposure to risky assets like mortgage-backed securities and risky loans. He also aimed a spotlight at his 9% dividend, which is about twice the yield offered by closest competitor GFI Group (Nasdaq: GFIG). The CNBC spot didn't unveil any new news, but it's amazing what a little face time with investors can do for a relatively unknown small cap like BGC.

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