There are better companies and better stocks to invest in these days than Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), but it would be silly of me to leave this company totally out of the picture just because it is not in my top ten.

The market is down a few percentage points as I write and MSFT is down in sync with the market. Many investment gurus have stated that they think a 10% correction is in order after the huge run-up since March 9, 2009. I am not so sure there will be a 10% correction or any particular correction just because the market was on a hot streak.

Analyst upgrades:

• Keefe Bruyette upgraded Affiliated Managers Group (NYSE: AMG) to Market Perform from Outperform to reflect the rebound in equity and fixed income markets as well as an attractive risk/reward profile. The firm raised its target on shares to $72 from $61.
• Jefferies upgraded AGCO Corp. (NYSE: AGCO) to Buy from Hold as it believes equipment sales in Brazil are holding up better than expected and farm stimulus should set a floor in sales. The firm raised its target on shares to $36 from $25.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded ArcelorMittal (NYSE: MT) to Buy from Hold to reflect reduced balance sheet risk and a more positive view on the steel sector. The raised its target on shares to $42 from $23
• Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Citigroup.
• Synovus (NYSE: SNV) was raised to Buy from Neutral at SunTrust.
• First American (NYSE: FAF) was lifted to Overweight from Equal Weight at Stephens.

Analyst upgrades:

• Citigroup upgraded Emergency Medical Services (NYSE: EMS) to Hold from Sell as it believes earnings estimates and valuation multiples could expand should Congress extend insurance coverage to the currently uninsured. The firm raised its target on shares to $38 from $29.
• JPMorgan upgraded Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB) to Neutral from Underweight on expectations the company's fixed income business will drive earnings.
• KeyBanc expects U.S. Steel (NYSE: X) to benefit from a global recovery in flat-rolled products and a potential stabilization in energy end markets. The firm upgraded shares to Buy from Hold.
• Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Soleil.
• Pinnacle Financial (NASDAQ: PNFP) was upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Stephens.
• BP Plc (NYSE: BP) was raised to Buy from Hold at ING Group.

When Microsoft Corp.'s (NASDAQ: MSFT) Bing "decision engine" took final form recently, many internet pundits didn't think it would pose a serious threat to Google, Inc.'s (NASDAQ: GOOG) market-leading internet search positioning. Indeed, Bing hasn't really threatened Google in a little over a week since being officially launched.

What is has done is overtake Yahoo Inc.'s (NASDAQ: YHOO) position in second place behind Google -- all in less than seven days. How on earth did Microsoft's Bing shoot up so fast? It's brand new, has a huge amount of hype and online advertising and there is an initial euphoria goading the numbers so far. Will "decision search" customers who continue to use Bing long-term spell deeper trouble for Yahoo!, or just prove that initial-launch bumps can happen and then fade away?

Yahoo Inc (NASDAQ: YHOO) claims not to be under pressure to ink a search deal with Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT). You know what that means ...

The two distant followers in the search engine space were considering a partnership, but Microsoft's newly released Bing search engine raises questions as to how committed Microsoft would be to a deal. Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz was quick to explain, according to Reuters, that "Yahoo doesn't have to do anything with Microsoft about anything" and that it is "a damned big, important site."

The benefits of the deal are salient, mostly involving scale and increased monetization of Yahoo's search service. The second largest search company estimates that it would save up to $700 million in a year through the Microsoft partnership.

Even though Yahoo is "damned big," Bartz believes that the acquisition of smaller companies that could be folded easily would be a good use of the company's cash.

Here we go again. Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) may need to look at combining their companies and search efforts over a year from when a combined "Microhoo" was first put on the table. Current Yahoo! CEO Carol Bartz tossed the latest gold coin into the fountain by saying this week that "boatloads of money" would be the only possible way Yahoo! would look at teaming up with Microsoft would happen.

Bartz danced around the issue and minced words a bit by answering that "You know, if there's boatloads of money and there's the right technology and there's the right information we'd have, sure. But you know, there's two parties in all of this and the other party needs to have a boatload of money, and ... the right technology and give us the right data, and so forth. So it's that simple."

It seems that every month I get a new phone book. Yet, I haven't opened one in the past few years. Of course, if I need to find a local business, I'll go to Google (NASDAQ: GOOG).

I'm definitely not alone. Just look at the carnage in the yellow pages business.

If you're a business owner, it's become necessary to get on board local online marketing. Not only will you find good customers, but you'll be able to measure results (how many clicks you are getting), target segments (you can focus on various demographics), and help build your brand.

Live Nation (NYSE: LYV), a promoter of concerts and merchandise, took the stage on Thursday and played the entire set of its latest earnings numbers for Wall Street's rock fans. Unfortunately, some of the musical metrics were completely off-key.

For the first quarter, Live Nation said that revenues dipped by over 6%. Currency translations affected the top line, so if you strip them out, you get an increase of nearly 3%. The loss from continuing operations expanded by an earsplitting 40% to $1.29 per share. According to this news article, analysts were looking for a loss of only $0.82 per share.

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

• Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) reported strong Q1 results easily beat expectations.
• Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) posted better-than-expected Q1 earnings, helped by home refinancing.
• Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) reported its first quarterly loss since 1992 and cut its revenue outlook.
• Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) posted Q1 earnings that were in line with expectations, but shares fell.
• eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) posted better-than-expected Q1 earnings despite a decline in sales.

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), a company in the same league as Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), IBM (NYSE: IBM), Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), and Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO), reported earnings for the third quarter on Thursday after the bell. The company was able to meet the expectations of analysts. Which is a good thing, since last quarter the iconic software business issued a miss.

On an adjusted basis, Microsoft made 39 cents per share. As I said in my earnings preview, analysts were looking for that precise amount. Although Wall Street always wants to see companies go beyond expectations, I suppose we can be at least a little happy over this result. Microsoft is hurting, after all.

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) is set to report third-quarter earnings today after the close of trading. Analysts expect the software giant, whose competitors include IBM (NYSE: IBM), Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), to earn 39 cents per share. Let's hope for a beat since Microsoft generated several pennies more per share in the previous year's similar quarter.

I don't feel a lot of confidence about this quarter. I'm sure everyone remembers Q2 back in January of this year. Microsoft released its earnings earlier than expected, but it wasn't to report great news. Instead, the company missed on the bottom line. Plus, management announced some workforce reductions. It wasn't a pleasant sight. The stock sold off, and shareholders felt miserable.

Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO), a web portal whose colleagues include Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Time Warner's (NYSE: TWX) AOL, reported Q1 numbers after the bell on Tuesday. According to an earnings preview done by colleague Mark Fightmaster, Wall Street was counting on something along the lines of 8 cents per share. Well, on a non-GAAP basis, Yahoo! earned 15 cents per share. Not bad.

Unfortunately, Yahoo! made three pennies more on the same adjusted basis in last year's similar quarter. Furthermore, revenues, adjusted for currency effects, dropped 8%. Oh, and one more thing. Free cash flow decreased over 60%.

The New York Times (NYSE: NYT) is set to report Q1 earnings on Tuesday, April 21. Don't expect a profit. In fact, I wouldn't expect much of anything. After all, we are talking about a company that makes its money off newsprint. Sad as it might be to say, newspapers are fast becoming dinosaurs in the age of digital information.

According to this source, analysts think that the New York Times will lose about $0.04 per share. That's really bad, considering that the same source says that the company was profitable in the year-ago frame, generating $0.09 per share. It isn't surprising though, is it? Not only has the recession destroyed advertising growth in all forms of media, but newspapers simply aren't looked to anymore as the first source of news. The Internet has disrupted that reputation for good.

Google (NYSE: GOOG), the internet search engine that just about everyone uses, and a leader in its sector, one that includes Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO), and Time Warner's (NYSE: TWX) AOL, reported Q1 earnings after the bell on Thursday. Google beat the analysts.

According to my earnings preview, Wall Street was looking for $4.92 per share (some news reports indicated that $4.93 was the number to look for). Well, on an adjusted basis, Google delivered $5.16 per share.

Search giant Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), whose colleagues include Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) and Time Warner's (NYSE: TWX) AOL, will be reporting first-quarter earnings today after the market closes up shop. The market isn't expecting a lot of growth, with estimates pegging Google's earnings at $4.92 per share, only eight pennies more than the previous year's results.

Google, however, went beyond Wall Street's calls in the last two quarters. Considering the fact that the stock has had a run-up the last few months, I expect that the market is looking for good things from the tech company. I think there's a good chance we'll see a beat.