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: Not six months ago, I took a look at a little oil exploration play that Wall Street traders had recently been buying, hand over fist. Its name was Global GeoPhysical Services (NYSE: GSS), and while I admit I'd never heard of the company before, once I noticed it, I sure did like what I saw -- and I told you so.

So what: Did you listen? I sure hope you did, because Global Geo is up 72% from the price at which I spotted it, including a 10% leap higher that happened just today (now subsided to just a 7% rise).

Now what: So far as I can tell, there's no good reason for today's price spike in particular. The company put out a press release mentioning that it's added a couple oil execs to its board of directors, which now includes representatives from Apache (NYSE: APA), Anadarko (NYSE: APC), Linn Energy (Nasdaq: LINE), and others. An all-star lineup, to be sure, but it's not usually the thing of which 10% price spikes are made.

More importantly, though, the long-term argument in favor of buying this stock remains intact. At last report, Global Geo was still churning out free cash flow at the rate of $101 million per year. The resulting valuation of 6.4 times free cash flow tells me there's every reason to buy the stock today -- and every chance of it continuing to go up in the future.

Maybe Rich was lucky, recommending Global Geo all those months ago -- but is he tempting fate by doubling down on that bet after a 72% gain? Add Global Geophysical to your watchlist, and watch how this plays out.

Fool contributor Rich Smith does not own (or short) shares of any company named above. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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