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 freight shipper and erstwhile oil driller DryShips (Nasdaq: DRYS) fell as much as 14.9% today on slightly above-average volume.

So what: The company doesn't have any news of its own today, but it sits at the nexus of several bad mojo flows:

  • The Athens-based company doesn't like the Greek debt crisis at all, and today was another day of no good news on that front.
  • Other Greek shippers also suffered, including Diana Shipping (NYSE: DSX) and Navios Maritime Partners (NYSE: NMM), and the ill will spread across international borders to give New York-based rival Genco Shipping & Trading (NYSE: GNK) a double-digit percentage cut.
  • Even the oil-drilling efforts dragged DryShips down as November crude prices sank to $77.80 a barrel.

Now what: DryShips was never a great investment, even when share prices rocketed above $100 three years ago. Management always looked self-serving, and it's hard not to chuckle at the self-inflicted financial damage there as an overly leveraged capital structure falls apart. Unfortunately, many individual investors were caught in this 98% three-year implosion, and I sure hope you weren't among them.

No good can come from this toxic stock, even from these low starting prices. Don't try to catch this falling knife.

Interested in more information about DryShips? Add it to My Watchlist.