When to follow the barbarians

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

The world of hedge funds may be shrouded in secrecy. But savvy investors can profit handsomely by following the public moves of some of the industry's high-profile players, especially as many are taking a more active role in cleaning up troubled companies.

In July 2011, Carl Icahn, one of the most famous "agitator" investors, put pressure on cellphone maker Motorola Mobility MORE

Ford stock not driving over fiscal cliff

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.

Anyone who's seen "Thelma and Louise" knows that cars and cliffs don't tend to get along too well. But shares of Ford (F) are up nearly 15% since the broader market first started to slip in MORE

Facebook soars 8% on analyst upgrades

Facebook's (FB) stock is finally starting to live up to the lofty expectations that many investors had for it back in May when the company went public.

Shares of Facebook rose more than 8% Monday after analysts at Bernstein and BTIG upgraded the stock. Facebook has now rallied nearly 50% since touching a low of $17.55 in early September. The stock, currently around $26, is trading at its highest level since MORE

No clouds for Salesforce. Stock up 8%.

Salesforce.com (CRM) bulls should be singing the following refrain today. "Hey. Hey! You. You! Get onto my cloud." (Still bummed that I didn't get Rolling Stones tickets for their upcoming show at the new Barclays Center in Brooklyn.)

The cloud computing giant reported earnings and sales on Tuesday that topped analysts' forecasts. Salesforce's stock shot up 8% on the news Wednesday, making the company the best performer in the S&P 500 MORE

Worst may finally be over for Apple

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) shareholders finally have something to give thanks for as we get closer to Turkey Day.  The stock surged more than 7% on Monday.

So is the worst is finally over for Apple, following a rough MORE

Sears plunges more than 20%

Sears (SHLD) is amazingly still one of the hottest stocks of 2012. Shares are up nearly 55% year-to-date. But the retailer's stock plunged more than 20% Friday after the Kmart owner reported another massive loss and a decline in sales.

The company has been in turnaround mode for years. But it has two things in its favor that has kept the company from becoming as much of a mess as fellow MORE

The fiscal cliff: 2013's Y2K bug

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.

If you take a look at the performance of the broader market since Election Day, many stocks have already taken a tumble off of something resembling a steep overhanging face of rock. Too bad there isn't MORE

Gold bugs love fiscal cliff fears

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.

If Congress and President Obama hurl America over the fiscal cliff, some fearful investors may clutch tightly to gold on the long way down.

Stocks have been hit hard since Election Day as fiscal cliff concerns dominate MORE

Good housing news is bad for housing stocks

The housing market has hit bottom. Problem is, investors already know that.

Two honebuilders reported decent, albeit not spectacular, results Monday morning. D.R. Horton (DHI) posted a profit that beat forecasts. But revenues missed estimates. Meanwhile, Beazer Homes (BZH) reported revenue that exceeded expectations. But its quarterly loss was higher than what analysts were predicting.

Both stocks fell on the news. Beazer got hit particularly hard though, plunging nearly 14% compared to MORE

Can Cisco make a comeback?

Is cash (or caysh if you pronounce it like Cisco Systems CEO John Chambers) king? We may find out Tuesday. Cisco (CSCO) reports earnings after the closing bell on Tuesday.

It's been a tough year for the networking giant. Shares are down 6.5%, despite the fact that it has nearly $50 billion in caysh on its balance sheet and is putting a lot of it to use with a dividend. Cisco's MORE