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 Chinese salt and chemicals manufacturer Gulf Resources (Nasdaq: GFRE) were looking pretty sweet today, rising as much as 24% on heavy volume.

So what: Today's big move is on the back of strong 2011 financial guidance that the company issued yesterday. At the midpoints of the guidance, the company sees revenue growth of 24% and net income growth of 27%. In addition, the stock was benefitting from the initiation of coverage from Brean Murray, Carret & Co., where analyst Wayne Chung started Gulf Resources with a "buy" rating and set a price target of $10.

Now what: It was a rough week for Gulf Resources last week as the stock dropped after a misstatement from management. It's been an even rougher few months as Gulf Resources' stock has lost close to 40% of its value. As a China-based, reverse-merger company, it seems likely that the stock has been caught in the pressure brought on by companies like Duoyuan Printing (NYSE: DYP) and China MediaExpress (Nasdaq: CCME). With fraud allegations dropping small-cap Chinese stocks left and right, many investors have fled the scene. However, with the whole subset of stocks beaten down, it seems there are bound to be some big winners. If the Brean Murray analyst is on point with his assessment, Gulf Resources could be one of them.

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