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: For the third time this week shares of Gentiva Health Services (Nasdaq: GTIV) plunged more than 10%, but unlike Monday and Tuesday, this was a doozy. As I’m writing, shares are down 34% after the company released earnings.

So what: The drops earlier this week were due to speculation that Gentiva would be hurt by reimbursements because of the debt deal agreed upon in Congress; today is a different story. We got solid confirmation that worrying is justified when Gentiva missed estimates and cut its earnings outlook to $2.00 to $2.20 per share.

Now what: Today everything Gentiva reported fell short of expectations, and pressure on the company’s shares hit a crescendo. It’s tough to be a buyer with the kind of momentum we’re seeing this week, but I have to look at a four-times forward P/E ratio at the low end of guidance as some sort of value, right? The problem is that pesky $1 billion of long-term debt lurking on the balance sheet, which will keep me far, far away from shares today.

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