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 computer memory technologist Rambus (Nasdaq: RMBS) look like Rambo came by to slap them around today. At worst, the stock dropped more than 24% below Thursday's closing price after briefly posting a 12% gain.

So what: That's a 48.5% intraday span on spectacular trading volume, for those keeping score at home. This frenzy is fueled by an appeals court judge sending Rambus' patent infringement case against Micron Technology (Nasdaq: MU) back to a lower court for reconsideration, based on Rambus shredding as much as 9 tons of documents possibly pertaining to the case.

Now what: Investors are left wondering exactly what Rambus wants to hide. The outcome of several other patent lawsuits may hinge on what happens to the Micron case, with cascading effects on the entire Rambus business model. Technology patents can be fertile grounds for serious business, as proven by Universal Display (Nasdaq: PANL) and TiVo (Nasdaq: TIVO), but Rambus runs a cloak-and-dagger version of that model where your investment lives and dies by the whims of a court. I'd suggest taking your portfolio elsewhere or, better yet, never letting it touch Rambus at all.

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