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 bond insurer MBIA (NYSE: MBI) were getting a nice boost from investors today, gaining as much as 12% in intraday trading.

So what: MBIA agreed to drop a lawsuit against Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) that sought to recover payouts on $5.7 billion in credit-default swaps and collateralized debt obligations. How exactly is that good news for MBIA? There's speculation that MBIA agreed to drop the suit because the two companies are close to an agreement that will settle the claims.

Now what: If the expectations are correct, it will be interesting to see what MBIA is actually able to get out of B of A. The suit hadn't been going all that well for MBIA -- part of the suit was dismissed in 2010 and an appeals court tossed it entirely earlier this year. On the upside though, B of A does seem to be highly motivated to tie up financial-meltdown-related loose ends, as it agreed to pay Assured Guaranty (NYSE: AGO) $1.6 billion in April and more recently offered $8.5 billion to settle claims from mortgage-backed security investors.

Want to keep up to date on these companies?