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 networking equipment maker Ciena
So what: Pulling up to this week's third-quarter earnings report, Ciena had a chance to strut its networking stuff on a big stage as Hurricane Irene blasted New York. The financial district and corporate networks across town made it through this trial by water with nary a hiccup, boosting share prices of well-represented metro networkers Ciena, Juniper Networks
Now what: After buying the metro ethernet division of bankrupt Nortel, Ciena is a giant in exactly the kind of crosstown and interstate networking that faced a sterling test over the weekend. This event is a sure topic of discussion during Thursday's upcoming analyst call -- if nothing else, to distract investors from Ciena's habit of posting net losses and burning cash. If you're looking for a turnaround story in the long-distance networking sector, I think you'd be better off digging into Alcatel-Lucent or Tellabs at this point.
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