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 oil and gas firm Sandridge Energy (NYSE: SD) are trading as much as 13.7% higher today on many times the average trading volume.

So what: We're looking at multiple catalysts here: Sandridge's fourth-quarter loss was smaller than expected, the company raised its production outlook for the first time in nearly two years, and is even selling some underperforming properties in order to pay down about $200 million of debt.

Now what: A debt-reduction program is very much in order as a spree of land acquisitions has created a $3 billion debt load versus negligible cash reserves. But those opportunistic acquisitions are paying off in the form of vast expanses of low-cost development fields and a new focus on oil over natural gas exploration, which should serve the company well in coming years.

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