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: Oilfield-services contractor Global Industries (Nasdaq: GLBL) hit an oil slick of a different color -- a red one -- this morning. Down 15% as of this writing, it's neck and neck with Smith Micro in the contest to become Thursday's worst-performing stock on the Nasdaq.

So what: And no wonder! Sure, investors had muted expectations for the company going into earnings last night. But the worst they expected to see was perhaps a $0.07-per-share loss -- and the consensus called for only a penny. What did Global give them instead? A whopping $0.30 loss, on a 35% decline in revenue.

Now what: You can understand why investors were upset by the news. So far, Global Industries has managed to rack up $108 million in combined losses over the past 12 months and is coming close to repeating its disastrous fiscal 2008 results.

Sure, the odd bad year aside, Global has averaged roughly $44 million in annual profit over the past five years. And yes, management tells us it's more than doubled its project backlog in comparison with this time last year. That should mean better times are coming. Unfortunately, most analysts who track Global think the company will show increasingly weak earnings over the years to come, with earnings declining 18% per year on average. With no dividend to sustain interest, and few prospects for a long-term turnaround, investors are jumping ship. I can't say I blame them.

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