Apple isn't only company with too much cash

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.

Issuing preferred shares that pay a big dividend may not be the best use of Apple's more than $137 billion of cash and liquid investments. But hedge fund manager and Apple shareholder David Einhorn, who MORE

Google under pressure ahead of earnings

Google is reporting earnings after the bell Tuesday and all eyes will be on the search giant's expenses as it transitions deeper into other markets.

Last year, Google (GOOG) completed its biggest acquisition ever, when it paid $12.5 billion for Motorola Mobility. That deal gave Google access to more than 17,000 patents that will help keep lawsuits from Apple (AAPL) and Microsoft (MSFT) at bay.

Gaining Motorola also opened a window into MORE

Facebook: Investors snub search tool

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced a new search tool at a highly-anticipated press event Tuesday.

The new feature, dubbed "Graph Search," allows Facebook users to search their own network of connections for people, places, photos and interests that have been shared on Facebook. For example, users will be able to search for "friends who live in my city," "photos of the Eiffel Tower," or "music my friends like."

Facebook first announced the event last week, MORE

Apple stock is down ... again

Apple rallied along with the rest of the market on Wednesday on fiscal cliff euphoria. The stock soared more than 3%. But iBears seem to have returned with a vengeance.

Shares of Apple (AAPL) were down nearly 2% Friday. And that follows a more than 1% drop on Thursday.

Apple's big slide began last September following the release of the iPhone 5. The stock is down almost 25% from its all-time MORE

5 reasons why Google has its mojo back

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

Google Maps isn't the only thing that recently made a stirring comeback. So has Google's stock.

Shares of Google (GOOG) were up about 1% Thursday following the triumphant return of the company's maps to Apple's App Store. MORE

Priceline falling over fiscal cliff? Stock down 5%

William Shatner's Priceline Negotiator character famously plunged off a cliff in a TV ad earlier this year. Despite fears of his untimely demise, he miraculously survived. But now it looks like shares of Priceline (PCLN) are falling off the fiscal cliff ... and it's not as clear just yet if they'll bounce back as quickly as the Shat.

Priceline's stock lost 5% Monday after Deutsche Bank downgraded it from a "buy" MORE

Special dividends: Big waste of cash for tech

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

Apple (AAPL) has more than $120 billion in cash.  Microsoft (MSFT) is sitting on $66.6 billion. And Cisco Systems (CSCO) has $45 billion in "caysh." So will any of these firms join the latest craze that's MORE

RIM, Nokia, Facebook, Yahoo: Zombie techs live!

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

At one point this year, investors were assuming that the market for mobile devices and advertising began and ended with just two companies: Apple (AAPL) and Google (GOOG). They were the Home Depot and Lowe's of MORE

Vote for Marissa: Yahoo is cool again

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

On this Election Day, let's play a fun little game. If Yahoo (YHOO) CEOs were U.S. presidents, most of them would be unsuccessful one-term (or less) inhabitants of the Oval Office.

Terry Semel was like Jimmy Carter. MORE

Forget BofA. Check out online bank BofI

As customers move toward mobile banking, is an online-only and branch-less bank the bank of the future?

Bank of Internet's CEO Gregory Garrabrants told an audience at an investing conference in San Diego last week that his bank, with roughly $2.4 billion in assets, can compete with its larger rivals because it's not weighed down by real estate costs and has a lean staff.

Garrabrants, speaking at Stocktoberfest, a conference run by social MORE