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 Canadian gold explorer Paramount Gold and Silver (AMEX: PZG) sank as low as 13% in intraday trading on plunging gold prices.

So what: Profit taking and an improving risk appetite weighed heavily on gold prices Tuesday, bringing the small-cap Paramount -- along with bigger gold miners like Yamana (NYSE: AUY), Coeur d'Alene (NYSE: CDE), and Barrick (NYSE: ABX) -- down with it. At the time of this writing, about 4.5 million shares of Paramount had already changed hands, compared with the average three-month volume of just 1.5 million shares.

Now what: I'd be cautious about pouncing on today's price plunge. Ever since Paramount's exciting new find at its San Miguel mine last month, the shares have already more than doubled. Fellow Fool and resident gold expert Christopher Barker liked Paramount for its crystal-clear growth opportunities, a great call to be sure, but now Fools might want to wait until Mr. Market is a little less excited about those very same prospects.

Interested in more info on Paramount? Add it to your watchlist.