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.

While Symantec (NASDAQ: SYMC) is the biggest player in security software, it has been lagging over the past few years. But, the company has been taking action, especially in revamping its sales organization.

And, it seems to be working. Today, Symantec reported its Q2 results, which showed a 19% increase in net income to $150 million or $0.18 per share. Yet, sales were still soft, declining 2.9% to $1.48 billion (but it was still better than the $1.43 billion consensus forecast).

In uncertain times, it goes without saying that investors should stick with 'the known, and the true,' which is why I'm reiterating my Buy rating for Big Blue -- International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM), first recommended on February 18, 2009 at a price of $91.51. If you bought IBM in February, you're up about 35%.

Just about everything is running in IBM's favor right now: look for a mid-single-digit revenue gain for IBM in FY2009 on stronger services division and software division revenue.

International Business Machines (NYSE: IBM) reported Q3 results after the bell on Thursday. Net sales decreased 7% when compared to the year-ago period. Okay, that doesn't sound like a great start. Wait, though, because things are about to get better from here.

Sales actually increased 1% on a sequential basis. Net profit on a dollar basis went up 14%. Net margin improved. And on a per-share basis, net income jumped 18% to $2.40. According to our earnings preview, this was two pennies ahead of analyst projections.

Investors hoping to ride the climate change bandwagon have had a roller coaster ride over the past two years. Greentech stocks soared with the oil spike in 2007 and 2008, then crashed with stock market and commodity price declines in 2009. Since then, some of the most obvious stock plays have strongly rebounded. Many solar stocks have posted high double-digit gains since rebounding off year-to-date lows in March 2009.

The leading solar panel manufacturer, FirstSolar (NASDAQ: FSLR) has appreciated by 45% from lows of near $100 to a closing price of $154 on October 14. "I wouldn't be stepping into buying these stocks right now," says Pacific Crest senior analyst Mark Bachman, who covers solar stocks. Still, he rates FirstSolar as a market perform and considers it the best solar stock at present on his coverage list.

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), as we all know, is looking to get the biggest bang out of its software products. After the challenges encountered with Vista, and the slowdown in PC sales, Microsoft needs to look at its portfolio and see where unique marketing initiatives will impact sales in a positive manner.

As an example, Ina Fried over at CNET.com discussed a version of Office that will be available on new computers in 2010. It's being dubbed a "Starter" edition, and it apparently will use an advertising model to generate money. Users will also be able to get fuller versions by purchasing upgrade cards.

As I write this, shares of Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) are down well over 3% to $24.83. That's a drop of 89 cents per share. The catalyst? A downgrade from Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS).

According to Bloomberg, the institution removed the software giant from its conviction buy list. There's concern that the first quarter won't be overwhelmingly positive. Understandably, Wall Street got a little nervous and decided to book some profits. Microsoft has had a decent run as of late.

Red Hat (NYSE: RHT), a software business whose colleagues include Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL), reported Q2 numbers yesterday after the bell. Today, shares are up quite spectacularly. What's driving all the buying interest?

Well, the results were worthy of praise. Net sales increased 12%. Subscriptions were higher by 15%. Adjusted income, including the elimination of a tax benefit from the total, was 16 cents per share. According to Earnings.com, the market was looking for 15 cents per share. So, we've got the typical beat-by-a-proverbial-penny situation on our hands. I'd rather it be more than a penny, but I'll take it.

Through aggressive M&A, Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) has expanded its software into areas like enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM) and middleware. But the fact remains that the company still has a tremendous franchise in the database market. And the nature of this market is awesome. For example, Oracle has recently implemented a 250 terabyte database for AT&T (NASDAQ: T) and one for 700 terabytes for Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO).

It certainly makes for a highly profitable business. In Oracle's fiscal Q1 report issued Wednesday, the company posted profits of $1.1 billion or 22 cents per share and operating cash flow of $3.7 billion.

Adobe Systems (NASDAQ: ADBE), a software company whose colleagues include Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), issued Q3 results on Tuesday. Revenues dropped over 20%. Adjusted income was 35 cents per share versus 50 cents per share in the year-ago quarter.

As can be seen, Adobe is still suffering from the economic downturn. Not only did sales decline on a year-over-year basis, but they also dropped sequentially.Thankfully, management was at least able to beat expectations by a penny, as indicated by data at Earnings.com. Adobe also did relatively okay with operational cash flow.

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT), a company in the same competitive league as Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Google, INc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO), and International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM), posted its Q4 earnings release after the bell on Thursday. As I was writing this paragraph, shares of the software giant were trading down over 6% in the after-hours session. Looks like the market was disappointed.

To be certain, the results weren't great (of course, no one was expecting them to recall the company's growth story of yesteryear, I'm confident about that, let me tell you). Sales were down 17%. Operating income on a dollar basis dropped 30%. And, on a reported basis, Microsoft's per-share profit, calculated out to be 34 cents, declined 26%. On an adjusted basis, adding back 4 cents for a few items, earnings came in at 38 cents per share. According to my earnings preview, that beat estimates by two pennies.

Get ready for one of the biggies in a week of major earnings reports. Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), whose tech colleagues include Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), International Business Machines (NYSE: IBM), and Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO), will publish its Q4 results on Thursday, July 23, after the market closes. What should we be expecting?

Well, according to Earnings.com, expect a decline on the bottom line. Shareholders certainly don't want to hear that, but we still are in a recession, so it's most likely unavoidable. Last year at this time, Microsoft made 46 cents per share. This year, look for 36 cents per share in Q4.

Venture capital funds found 612 companies in which to invest $3.67 billion in Q2. Of this, $1.5 billion (41%) was first-time financing, according to a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association. This is only slightly ahead of the action in Q1, in which 141 transactions were first-time, and far behind the pace we enjoyed earlier this decade.

The biotech sector was the big winner in a shrinking market, with funding up 54% to $888 million over 85 deals. The software business was flat quarter-over-quarter at 4644 million over 135 transactions. Investments in internet companies fell 15% to $524 million via 124 deals. Clean technology showed considerable growth, up 15% to $274 million, with 42 transactions closed.

H&R Block (NYSE: HRB) turned in strong numbers for its last fiscal year, which ended April 30, 2009. Income from continuing operations climbed 15% to $513.1 million ($1.53 per share), compared to $445.9 million ($1.36 a share) the previous year. But, the income growth came on basically flat revenues of $4.1 billion.

The Tax Services division saw revenues grow 1.5% to $3 billion, with pretax income up 13.7% to $893.8 million. H&R Block prepared 5.8% fewer returns, though the average fee per returned was up 7.2%. The up-tick in fees resulted from increased tax return complexity and an increase in clients with higher adjusted gross incomes.

It's far from easy selling enterprise software today. But some companies are finding ways to grow. Just look at Red Hat (NYSE: RHT), which is a leader in open source solutions.

The company's applications, which help to reduce costs and increase productivity, have shown lots of resilience during the recession. For example, according to Red Hat's latest earnings report, the top 25 deals that were up for renewal got renewed. Actually, theses customers increased the commitments by 120%.