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: MEMC Electronic Materials (NYSE: WFR) popped 14% in intraday trading today as investors bet that the tragic earthquake in Japan will at least temporarily help earnings.

So what: MEMC makes the silicon wafers used in semiconductors. The process for turning those wafers into semiconductors is highly sensitive, so it is likely much (if not all) of the product being manufactured in Japan during the earthquake was destroyed.

Now what: The lost production will need to be replaced and could cause a supply shortage of semiconductors and wafers. MEMC should see a temporary bump in demand for the replacement product, and the low inventory situation could result in above-average prices. Because of the company's high operating leverage, this could be a big positive for near-term EPS.

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