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Microsoft earnings post-mortem: The cash cows quiver

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: I can't help but wonder if the lackluster Windows/Office results also can be attributed to Microsoft brass's complete and crazy obsession with Google (and taking over Yahoo) has resulted in no one minding the Windows store. Kevin Johnson, the head of Microsoft's Platforms & Services division seems to be so laser-focused on the online-ad business these days that he almost seems to have forgotten Microsoft is still in the software business, too.

Beware of soaring profits

How much can we believe companies that report increased earnings over 20 quarters? A new study suggests we should probably take it with a bag or three of salt. The researchers found that most companies smooth their earnings.

Google earnings nearly triple

"The stock is down because they didn't blow out the numbers. Expectations have come up recently," said Martin Pyykkonen, an analyst at Global Crown Capital. "As expected they gained share relative to Yahoo in paid search but not by a wide margin."

Google profits beat expectations

Investors seemed awe-struck too. Google s stock price climbed by more than 7 percent in after-hours trading, signaling the company s market value may rise by another $10 billion Friday. That s enough wealth to finance another six deals similar to Google s recently announced plans to buy the Web s hottest video service, YouTube Inc.