Monster Worldwide 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 job-search service provider Monster Worldwide (NYS: MWW) roared to an 18.3% gain in intraday trading today on heavy volume.

So what: Having fallen more than 30% over the previous 30 days, Monster bounced back as not one but three top executives bought a significant load of Monster shares on the open market. The company also replaced its CIO today, but the insiders' vote of confidence in the company surely weighs much heavier to most investors.

Now what: Monster used to be a disruptor but is now being disrupted: Traditional foe Dice (NYS: DHX) has been joined by business-grade social network LinkedIn (NAS: LNKD) and the occasional job-hunt feeler thrown out on Twitter or Facebook. If the CEO, CFO, and a high-ranking VP all buy in after the recent drastic drops, surely they must know something good that we don't? Ah, but the investments only expanded each executive's Monster holdings by about 4% -- hardly an all-in bet. Still, insider buying is often a good sign; at the very least, these guys have some skin in the same game that we individual investors are playing.

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At the time thisarticle was published Fool contributor Anders Bylund holds no position in any of the companies discussed here. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool is investors writing for investors.

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