China Shen Zhou Mining Shares Plunged: What You Need to Know

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 Chinese miner China Shen Zhou Mining & Resources (AMEX: SHZ  ) were getting hammered today, losing as much as 18% in intraday trading.

So what: This morning, the company announced that as part of its 2010 audit, it received a "going concern qualification." In short, what this means is that China Shen Zhou's auditor looked at the business's 2010 numbers and said, "You know what? We're not exactly sure you're going to be able to keep the lights on."

Now what: Not that this should have been a surprise for investors. The company's 10-K has been out since late March and the going concern language is hardly hidden in there. So any investor actually doing their homework would have known about this weeks ago. And that's not to mention that the concern itself shouldn't be a shock either. The last time China Shen Zhou reported a full-year operating profit was in 2006, and the company has been burning through cash in its operations since 2008. And even if investors were caught by surprise, one might think their fears would be allayed by the fact that the company noted that it's raised significant new capital since the end of the year. Of course, this wasn't breaking news, either -- it was announced back in January!

I can't say that I think this is an attractive stock. But based on the action today, I have to wonder if investors are doing any research before they start pounding the "buy" or "sell" button.

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