Smooth as Velveeta. Kraft up 6%.

It was hard to find a major stock that was down on Friday. The Dow topped 15,000 and the S&P 500 surpassed 1,600 for the first time thanks to the better-than-expected jobs report.

But some stocks were rising for company specific reasons. Kraft (KRFT) was one of them. The king of macaroni and cheese -- although my hipster son prefers Annie's (BNNY) -- surged more than 6% to an all-time high MORE

Sell in May? Find something new to say

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Paul R. La Monica. Other than Time Warner, the parent of CNNMoney, Abbott Laboratories and AbbVie, La Monica does not own positions in any individual stocks.

Stop me if you've heard this before. Sell in May and go away. (I was tempted to just write those 6 words over and over again for the entire column. Like Jack Torrance in "The MORE

Chesapeake sinks despite solid earnings

Can anything stop Tesla?

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Paul R. La Monica. Other than Time Warner, the parent of CNNMoney, Abbott Laboratories and AbbVie, La Monica does not own positions in any individual stocks.

Tesla may be the Apple of the auto business. By that, I mean it's a company that's disrupting an entire industry ... not that it's a stock going nowhere fast.

When you look at Tesla (TSLA) MORE

Smart plays on smartphones

This article was published in the May issue of Money magazine.

You don't need Siri to tell you that mobile technology is just getting started.

Shipments of smartphones are forecast to surge 65% and tablets are expected to nearly double by 2017, led by strong growth in China, India, and Brazil, according to research firm IDC. Meanwhile, rumors abound of bendable screens and eye-scrolling technology just around the corner.

So what's the best MORE

Turn out the lights: GE down 4%

Remember when General Electric (GE) was considered THE market bellwether?

Those days appear to be history. GE fell 4% Friday after an earnings report that, while good, was not as strong as investors were hoping for. But even though GE was not bringing good things to life, the Dow was flat.

And that was due more to the big plunge in Dow component IBM (IBM). The Dow is price-weighted. So IBM, with MORE

Bear party: Stocks in overdue sell-off

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Paul R. La Monica. Other than Time Warner, the parent of CNNMoney, Abbott Laboratories and AbbVie, La Monica does not own positions in any individual stocks.

Stocks don't go up every day. And you know what? There's nothing wrong with that.

This week's pullback -- the S&P 500 was down nearly 3% as of Thursday afternoon  -- may be just what the MORE

Apple panic: Down 6%, falls below $400

Move over Bitcoins and gold, Apple (AAPL) is the latest investment to succumb to panic selling.

Shares of Apple plunged as much as 6% Wednesday afternoon and hit a new 52-week low of $398.11 in the process. Shares recovered a bit as the day wore on and closed just under the $403 mark. But Apple's stock is now down almost 25% this year and is more than 40% below the all-time MORE

Stocks may be up, but fear is back in market

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Paul R. La Monica. Other than Time Warner, the parent of CNNMoney, Abbott Laboratories and AbbVie, La Monica does not own positions in any individual stocks.

Stocks bounced back Tuesday after their worst sell-off of the year. Gold rebounded as well, following two consecutive days of staggering declines.

It's a good sign that stocks (and to a lesser extent gold) are stabilizing. MORE

Gold plunges 5%, below $1500

So much for that weak dollar, huh? The Bitcoin craze may finally be peaking and now another "alternative" currency is plunging too: gold.

Gold, which in its defense is at least a tangible asset, sank 5% Friday and fell below $1500 an ounce. Gold has fallen out of favor lately as stocks have continued to surge. Several Wall Street banks slashed their gold price targets earlier this week.

The MORE