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 Hyperdynamics (AMEX: HDY) were all over the place today over confusion about the company settling a lawsuit.

So what: The company announced it is modifying a lockup agreement with certain holders and settled the Hyperdynamics v. J.P. Carey Securities case originally filed in 2001. The 1,945 convertible shares in question will be converted into 239,437 shares of common stock and convert warrants for 500,000 shares into 100,000 shares of common stock.

Now what: The market was obviously thrown for a loop this morning with shares originally spiking 10% and then falling sharply to 10% below yesterday’s close. As of now, the stock is about flat for the day, and volume has settled down from extremely high levels early in the day. For the long-term investor, the good news is this lawsuit is over, and the company can get back to work. I don’t see any reason to change your investment thesis one way or the other today.

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