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 ChinaCache International Holdings (Nasdaq: CCIH) plummeted about 15% in intraday trading Thursday after the Internet content provider announced the resignation of its chief operating officer, Richard Xu.

So what: Chinese small caps haven't exactly been instilling a ton of confidence in Mr. Market lately, so it's no surprise that jittery investors are looking to jump ship right along with Xu. Just last month, ChinaCache insiders were given a chance to cash out of its recent IPO with the filing of a secondary share offering, making today's announcement all the more troublesome to the market.

Now what: The shares just aren't appropriate for most portfolios. Chasing Chinese small-caps are risky enough as it is, but when you throw in the string of red flags coming out of ChinaCache recently, the decision to stay away is a pretty easy one. U.S. counterpart Akamai Technologies (Nasdaq: AKAM), which actually trades at a wide forward P/E discount to ChinaCache, seems like a much safer bet.

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