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 genetic specialist Sequenom (Nasdaq: SQNM) jumped as much as 15% in intraday trading Thursday on heavy volume.

So what: Sequenom announced that the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology will publish a study showcasing the company's SensiGene T21 laboratory developed test. The paper, "Noninvasive detection of fetal trisomy 21 by sequencing of DNA in maternal blood: a study in a clinical setting" (not exactly bathroom reading) was aimed at using the company's product for identifying trisomy 21 samples from a larger sample group. Trisomy 21 is a chromosomal abnormality more commonly known as Down syndrome.

Now what: The company is planning a larger clinical validation study for this year, but the initial results look very positive, since the test was able to correctly identify every T21 sample. Positive study results or not, though, Sequenom's stock remains very speculative as the company has yet to report a profit and continuously burns cash.

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