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 global real estate manager Jones Lang LaSalle (NYSE: JLL) were hopping today, gaining as much as 11% after a key competitor announced solid quarterly earnings.

So what: When you're one of the two largest players in your market and your chief competitor announces solid numbers, that could be good news for you as well -- emphasis on "could."

Today, fellow real estate services giant CBRE Group (NYSE: CBG) reported better-than-expected revenue along with in-line earnings for the third quarter. With Jones Lang LaSalle set to report its earnings Wednesday, investors are obviously taking CBRE's results as a sign that JLL's numbers will look good as well. Since it was a less-than-accommodative environment in the third quarter, though, CBRE's results came through solid execution, so there's no guarantee that JLL's quarter was quite as rosy.

Now what: Don't get me wrong, there's hope to be gained from CBRE's earnings release. However, Jones Lang LaSalle investors may want to hold their celebration until next week when we see how the bottom line actually shook out rather than speculating on whether it was able to match its rival.

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