Amazon, Inc. (AMZN) is in the clouds. So are Google, Inc. (GOOG), EMC (EMC) and Cisco (CSCO). Now, Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) is joining them, having announced on Tuesday its new Windows Azure cloud computing system. The new product will be released on January 1, 2010 -- a new solution for a new year.

Azure will deliver an online platform for the software development set to build their own mousetraps and provide plenty of storage space for users. Testing began a year ago, and full live version will be celebrated next year. For the first month, Azure will be free. The charges start in February.

Today was another up-day that started out strong and stayed strong. Retail sales helped trump a weak NY Fed manufacturing number, and Ben Bernanke said he sees no asset bubbles in the US markets today.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

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The Street.com's Jim Cramer says that OPEC may take oil out of the equity-market equation and make stock-picking matter again.

If OPEC says it likes an oil price in the $75-78 range, as it said today, we could be looking at a nirvana moment for stocks. We know that any time oil bounces, the S&P 500 futures go up. Any time it goes down, the S&P futures go down. But if OPEC wants to keep it right here, we take oil out of the equation and make stock-picking matter again.

Right now, the Saudis are telling the big oil-shipping companies that they want to bring 1 million barrels a day into the market straight away to keep oil below $80. That can be used to overwhelm the speculators who are tying up as much as 20% of the oil fleet in the world to keep oil off the market and buoy its price. But they will not bring the oil to the market below $75.

When Robert Metcalfe invented Ethernet, he knew it would be an explosive business. So, he co-founded 3Com (COMS) back in 1979. It would become a pioneering company.

But now 3Com will no longer be independent. That is, the company is selling out to Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) for $2.7 billion in cash or $7.90 per share.

The deal is definitely a bold move. But HP needs to be aggressive with M&A to continue its growth.

Back in 1981, Logitech (LOGI) began selling computer mice. It was excellent timing. Now, the company is the dominant player in the market for peripherals.

But to continue the growth, Logitech has been expanding into new categories. One of the biggest is video conferencing. In fact, Logitech has announced that it will pay $405 million for LifeSize Communications, which is a major player in the market.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says that as numerous stories are mulled over anew, the reasons for selling seem silly.

The lack of important data today forces market participants to revisit stories that got tossed out over the last few weeks simply because of earnings ennui. People are now doubling back to see what they have forgotten, or more important, why they sold certain stocks they most likely shouldn't have.

For example, why did JPMorgan (JPM) (Cramer's Take) go from $47 to $44? Bad loans? Credit quality? No, not really. Nothing like that. Why did Goldman Sachs (GS) (Cramer's Take) go from $192 to the $170s? Some of it was Meredith Whitney, but there is also a sense of entitlement that makes the firm hated, as if somehow it is too much of a pariah to invest in.

Here are some highlights from last week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) said its Q3 profit declined despite the popularity of Guitar Hero.
• Blackboard Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBB) said Q3 revenue surged and its offered impressive cash flow numbers.
• Boston Beer Co. Inc. (NYSE: SAM) easily beat Q3 earnings estimates and raised its full-year guidance.
• Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) lower Q1 results topped estimates and sent shares higher.
• Cognizant Technology Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ: CTSH) was upgraded following its strong Q3 results.
• Corporate Executive Board (NASDAQ: EXBD) received an analyst's upgrade following the Q3 results.

U.S. stock futures drifted a little lower (later a little higher) Thursday morning following Wednesday's Federal Reserve's statement that it was keeping rates at record low levels. However, earnings from tech giant Cisco accompanied by an upbeat outlook could give a boost to tech. Also this morning, investors will watch as retail chain-stores report October sales.

[Update: Futures now point to a higher open following retail sales data, earnings and lower claims numbers.]

On Wednesday, Wall Street ended mixed and relatively flat after the Federal Reserve decided to keep rates steady. While conceding the economy has picked up, policymakers said this was not enough to hike interest rates, saying an increase will instead depend on when the labor market and inflation pickup. Given that there have been no inflationary pressures and that unemployment is expected to rise, the dollar weakened yesterday and short-term Treasury yields fell. The Fed also cautioned consumer spending would remain strained. Of course, the market would have liked to see a stronger show of confidence.

Following today's market close, technology giant Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) had its chance to impress Wall Street with its fiscal first quarter results, and the company did not disappoint.

Going into this afternoon's earnings report, analysts had been expecting to see the company show earnings of 31 cents per share, but the company surprised to the upside by posting actual earnings of 36 cents per share for its fiscal first quarter. For the same period last year the company had earnings of 42 cents per share.

Equity markets ended the third quarter with their biggest losses in four months, and we're now staring down the closing months of 2009. Half the quarter, of course, is dominated by holiday sales, which ups the stakes at the finish line and sets the tone for the bulk of 2010.

Even though company performances have been fairly strong through this reporting season, it's tough to shake the nerves associated with depressed consumer spending and high unemployment.

Neither company is saying a thing yet, but word is Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) and EMC (NYSE: EMC) are joining up to sell a new collection of products designed to deliver cloud computing capabilities, Reuters reports. Called vBlock, the cloud solution is intended to help the companies compete more effectively with IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ).

The partnership, which no one is admitting to, involves a joint venture between Cisco and EMC that will sell vBlock. The former will supply the networking equipment and servers, with the latter kicking in the storage gear and virtualization technology through its VMWare (NYSE: VMW) subsidiary. The joint venture will put the systems together, integrate the components for clients, and make the whole pile of cables and silicon work. A formal announcement is expected next week.

It was perfect timing: Back in 2004, ScanSafe was founded to provide Web security using the SaaS model (that is, using the Net as the platform to deliver the technology). Since then, the company has grown at a rapid clip.

In fact, today Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) agreed to buy ScanSafe for a $183 million.

"Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) has fattened itself up by swallowing more than 50 companies in the past five years," says Richard Moroney.

In Dow Theory Forecasts, he suggests, "Oracle has proved itself capable of delivering predictable earnings even during tough times by squeezing higher returns out of its assets, including those inherited via $35 billion worth of acquisitions over the past half-decade."

"While some fear the software giant is choking on its latest meal (Sun Microsystems), the deal makes sense operationally.

While the tech sector has held up fairly well during the economic downturn, the dealmaking has lagged. But lately, there has been an uptick activity, such as from companies like Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) and Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO).

Well, according to Reuters, it also looks like Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) is setting its sights on mergers and acquisitions (M&A).

The Street.com's Jim Cramer says that reasonable people who believe the market is a reasonable place to make money are getting back in.

People are getting back to even. In the last 72 hours I have spoken to about 500 investors -- or at least 500 book buyers! -- many of whom have told me they recently either got back to even, having dodged the big decline or gotten in near the bottom, or are actually up nicely because they saw the opportunity in March and rode it back up.

I always figure when you meet people it is strictly anecdotal. But when you meet 500 of them it crosses over into empirical. Here's what I saw of this particular cross-section.