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 Strategic Hotels & Resorts (NYSE: BEE) jumped more than 10% today, after it reported improving results after yesterday's market close.

So what: Strategic Hotels & Resorts lost $0.26 per share in the quarter. That may not sound great, but it's a lot better than the $0.97 in the third quarter of 2009. Moreover, investors were probably excited about EBITDA, which grew to $33.6 million from $31.2 million at this time last year, on higher revenue per room that was driven by a slight increase in occupancy and higher room rates.

Now what: We always have to remember that investing is not always about buying companies that will perform well this quarter, but about buying companies that will perform better than the market expects over the long term. That's why we saw names like Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) return 400% in 2009 even as they lost prodigious sums of money -- many investors had expected bad news for them. On an earnings basis, Strategic Hotels & Resorts is probably priced as though it will return to one-third to one-half of its 2007 earnings in the near future. That's a benchmark investors should be looking toward.

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