Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage on BloggingStocks:

• Ann Taylor Stores Corp. (ANN) declining same-store sales offset better-than-expected Q3 earnings.
• Canadian Solar Inc. (CSIQ) reached a new 52-week high after Q3 results handily exceeded expectations.
• Dillard's Inc. (DDS) said that it swung to a Q3 profit due to cost cutting as revenue declined year over year.
• GameStop Corp. (GME) reported uninspiring Q3 numbers that included a slump in same-store sales.
• Home Depot Inc. (HD) lower Q3 earnings and revenue beat analysts' estimates, but shares still declined.

In tech circles, you will hear lots about "cloud computing." Essentially, this means that software applications are operated through Internet connections -- and processed in huge data centers. Often, the results include lower costs and easier maintenance.

Of course, the dominant player in cloud computing is Salesforce.com (CRM). And based on its latest quarterly report, the company continues to grow and innovate.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says taking down all of software on the back of this outlook is a mistake.

And on the fifth down day, we decided that SAP's (NYSE: SAP) (Cramer's Take) butt getting kicked means the industry is faltering? This is the thought that went through my head when I saw SAP's disappointing news and its alibi that business is weak. That's why it stumbled. Of course, SAP's comments immediately took all of Europe down. Nobody said, "Hey, maybe it is SAP's fault because Oracle's (NASDAQ: ORCL) (Cramer's Take) kicking their butt." No one said, "Sure it is weak, because in the end Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) (Cramer's Take) got a better mousetrap."

Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) has a new champion: Dell (NASDAQ: DELL). The PC manufacturer is promoting the online sales force-enablement platform as a way to gain access to the hefty sums available in the technology services business. The deal would give Salesforce.com access to Dell's clients in the small and medium-sized business categories. Dell would sell Salesforce.com products and provide consulting services to help clients integrate the solution with their other enterprise applications. The dollars and cents of this union weren't disclosed.

Dell sees the margins of the services business and wants a piece of the action, particularly since the PC sector is low margin. Also, sales have been hit pretty hard as a result of the financial crisis. With PCs accounting for 60% of Dell's top-line, a bit of diversity isn't a bad idea. Currently, services account for only around 10% of Dell's sales.

There are stock plays, and then there are stock plays. Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) was expected to advance when first recommended on June 18, 2009 at a price of $40.16. Instead, CRM raced ahead, surging 47%. Accordingly, I'm Reiterating my Buy rating, but on a pull-back to $55-57.

The larger point concerns the following: is the recent gain in Salesforce.com's shares telegraphing something about the approaching U.S. economic recovery? Perhaps. Put CRM's share gain in this context: if the share gain holds, it's not a bearish sign for the U.S. economy.

One of the best ways for your business to get exposure and credibility is through public relations. Yet, hiring a PR firm can be expensive, easily running $5,000 to $10,000 per month.

Despite this, it's possible to do PR on your own. Keep in mind that a key to success is having an active and passionate founder or CEO who makes media relations a priority. This has been the case with many great leaders, such as Howard Schultz at Starbucks (NYSE: SBUX) and Marc Benioff at Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM).

So, let's take a look at some of the steps you can take to improve your PR.

"Run properly, as Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) does, a cloud computing network also offers greater security, greater reliability, and lower costs (thanks to efficiencies of scale)," explains Timothy Lutts.

In The Cabot Stock of the Month report, he suggests, "Salesforce.com is very well managed, and in our mind its leadership in cloud computing gives it a fundamental advantage that should translate into growing market share gains and steady revenue flows for years to come."

"The company was founded a decade ago by a former Oracle executive, and today it's a leading vendor of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) services.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says the rally hasn't been a sham, but a bigger pullback would be reasonable.

I love it! Suddenly it's S&P 900 or bust! Nothing underneath us. The rally revealed as a sham. Even better, a rally in a bear market!

Now we are talking.

A 45% rally in a bear market. Maybe China had an 85% rally in a bear market! We may have had a 7,500-point rally in a bear market since I started trading 30 years ago.

I am even thinking that we have never had a bull market!

"The term cloud computing is nothing particularly new or complicated; it simply means that instead of having software on your home, office or notebook computer, you run applications over the Internet," explains Gregg Early.

In Personal Finance says, "It's the way of the future as computing becomes increasingly mobile." Here, he looks at a trio of plays on this trend: Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN), Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM), and Rackspace Hosting (NYSE: RAX).

"I would point out that I'm writing this article on Google Docs. This document is stored on a Google server farm, not on my office computer.

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

• Aeropostale Inc. (NYSE: ARO) strong Q2 results beat expectations due to rising same-store sales.
• Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) Q3 earnings topped low expectations and revenue declined.
• Analog Devices Inc. (NYSE: ADI) posted better-than-expected Q3 results but shares fell on weaker margins.
• Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) CEO said its new advertising efforts will boost sales over the long run.
• Barnes & Noble Inc. (NYSE: BKS) had a better-than-expected Q2 profit but same-store sales fell.
• BJ's Wholesale Club Inc. (NYSE: BJ) reported solid Q2 numbers and raised its full-year guidance.

Marc Benioff, the founder and CEO of Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM), has a new book coming out in November: Behind the Cloud: The Untold Story of How Salesforce.com Went from Idea to Billion-Dollar Companyand Revolutionized an Industry.

I actually got an advance copy of it -- and it is awesome. In great detail he provides the strategies for building a game-changing company. And based on Salesforce.com's latest earnings report, the momentum seems unstoppable, despite the recession and tight information technology (IT) budgets.

Privately held social network Facebook just saw its prices go higher. Digital Sky Technologies has announced it will pay $14.77 a share for an additional stake in the social network, bumping its total position in the company to up to 3.5%. If this deal is completed, it would imply a total value of $6.5 billion – down about one-third from Digital Sky's last investment in Facebook.

Even the $6.5 billion a share value is optimistic. Investors have pushed the value to below $5 billion in private secondary market transactions over the past few weeks. Nonetheless, the relatively new company is still valued well above major technology and media heavyweights, including CBS (NYSE: CBS) with a $4.06 billion market cap and SalesForce.com (NYSE: CRM) at a $4.72 billion market cap.

With so much noise about online advertising and social media, the topic of telesales seems kind of outdated, if not obsolete. Yet, in today's rough economy, telesales may be even more important; that is, it can be an effective way to get someone -- who is noncommittal -- ultimately to buy your product.

So, how can your company leverage telesales? Let's take a look.

Cloud computing is a type of on-demand hosting services on the internet. Not only a necessity for mainstream e-commerce sites, it also increases efficiency, is scalable, and lowers expenses. The monetary savings may be misleading to consumers and businesses who do not fully understand the potential risks involved.

With a pay-as-you-go type structure, users are only charged for the amount of traffic, bandwidth, and memory used. Online businesses become more efficient by only utilizing the storage and space needed, while also being assured capacity for any usage increases. The buzz has been building for years, so cloud computing has attracted a diverse customer base, ranging from popular social networks such as Twitter and Facebook, to educational websites of Arizona State and Northwestern University.

The recession has not changed the Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) shareholder value proposition: namely, that delivery of software on demand requires a lower up-front investment and offers increased vendor accountability, with flexible subscription pricing, among other benefits.

What the recession has changed is the rate of sales growth for CRM, which is expected to slow to the 15-18% range in FY2009. In short, CRM's customers have slowed software implementations, due to the prolonged economic contraction. The First Call FY2009/FY2010 EPS estimates for CRM are 60 cents to 79 cents.