Cree Shares Popped: What You Need to Know

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 Cree (NAS: CREE) , a specialist manufacturer of LED lighting materials, rose more than 10% in early trading before closing up just under 5%.

So what: Far as I can tell, there were no material events lifting Cree's stock today. But comments from Evan Bauman, portfolio manager of the Legg Mason ClearBridge Aggressive Growth Fund, may have had an impact.

Now what: In an interview, Bauman told TheStreet.com's Gregg Greenberg that a global shift away from incandescent lighting toward LED alternatives is just getting under way and that Cree -- whose chips and lighting components are widely used -- stands to reap the windfall. Do you agree? Disagree? Let us know what you think using the comments box below.

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