Drugstore cowboys: CVS, Walgreen red hot

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.

With each passing day, it's getting harder to say with a straight face that stocks are fairly valued.

But even though some parts of the market are looking as frothy as the top of a Starbucks MORE

Boo! J.C. Penney is a scary stock

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.

Want to really freak out a trader this Halloween? Go dressed as former J.C. Penney (JCP) CEO Ron Johnson. Or former board member/big shareholder Bill Ackman. Aaaagggh!

J.C. Penney's stock performance this year is infinitely more MORE

Who's cutting the cord? Cable stocks soaring

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.

This is a wonderful time to be a consumer of content.

If you are tech savvy, you can get rid of pricey monthly cable plans and use devices like Roku or Apple (AAPL) TV and streaming MORE

Bitcoin mania is back! But is it a bubble?

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.

Remember that Bitcoin bubble? The price of the virtual currency rose as high as $266 in early April when everyone was worried that problems with banks in Cyprus could lead to a huge euro disaster.

The MORE

Wake up! Investors are way too complacent

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.

The stock market may have more room to run. But it's starting to look like investors are getting a little too complacent.

If the zombie apocalypse actually were to happen, stocks would probably surge because investors MORE

Stop kicking the debt ceiling can!

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.

The United States still has the skills to pay the bills. Whew.

The debt ceiling has been raised ... but only until February 7. So unless Republicans and Democrats suddenly grow up, the American people may MORE

Do consumers care about the debt ceiling?

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.

The government's in shutdown mode? The U.S. may default on its debt? Yawn. Get me another almond milk pumpkin spice latte and spelt blueberry muffin please! And I think I'll go grab some carnitas tacos MORE

Look for leaders among laggards

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

Searching for stocks that are likely to thrive in 2014? If recent history is a guide, one place to look is among shares that are badly lagging the S&P 500 this year.

Best Buy (BBY) and Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), after all, are soaring after being among the biggest losers last year. (Full disclosure: I recommended dumping HP in the January/February issue.) In 2012, Bank MORE

Washington is slowly killing the dollar

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.

The United States dollar may still be like Leonardo DiCaprio in "Titanic." It's the king of the world! But if politicians keep acting like toddlers, the greenback may eventually suffer the same fate as that MORE

Market needs to plunge to force Congress to act

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.

Amazingly enough, investors still don't appear to be too scared about a potential debt default by the United States.

And unless traders start showing some real fear, Congress may not act until after significant damage is MORE