Today was one of those Fridays that felt bad most of the trading day. It was an options expiration date today, and there was no domestic economic news to drive the markets. PC earnings failed to ignite interest and sellers had most of a quiet Friday in August to themselves.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

DJIA
S&P500
NASDAQ

Top Analyst Calls
Major Stocks on 52-Week Lows

In the fast-growing cloud computing space, Salesforce.com (CRM) is the franchise company. However, this means that the valuation is at premium levels. For example, the stock trades at nine times revenues and 174 times earnings. In other words, this stock is now for those who think the growth ramp will continue. And yes, based on the most recent quarterly report, it does look like good times will not end for awhile.

Profits came to $14.7 million, or $0.11 per share. But excluding certain stock-based charges, the adjusted earnings were $0.29 per share. As for revenues, these climbed 25% to $394.4 million.

Analyst upgrades:

• Bernstein upgraded Hospira (HSP) to Outperform from market Perform based on valuation, expectations that the company will be able to fix manufacturing issues quickly, and views Propolfol and biosimilars as underappreciated. The firm has a $63 price target on the stock.
• Citigroup upgraded eBay (EBAY) to Buy from Hold citing valuation and improvements to Marketplace. The firm keeps a $28 price target for shares.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded Coca-Cola Femsa (KOF) to Hold from Sell citing lessening acquisition risk and raised its target for shares to $66 from $61.
• Blackstone (BX) and Simon Property (SPG) were upgraded to Conviction Buy from Buy at Goldman.
• BreitBurn Energy (BBEP) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
• SL Green Realty (SLG) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merrill.

No doubt, the dominant player in cloud-computing is Salesforce.com (CRM). And investors have certainly benefited nicely. But what are some other plays in the sector? If cloud-computing is a growing industry, other operators should benefit as well, right?

Definitely. And it looks like one is NetSuite (N), which develops an enterprise resource planning platform (this manages payroll, inventory, HR and so on). In fact, it is the only type of its kind that has massive scale. And, as seen by its latest earnings report, NetSuite is certainly gaining momentum.

Analyst Upgrades

• Baird upgraded C.H. Robinson (CHRW) to outperform from neutral and has a $67 target on the stock. The firm upgraded shares citing growth opportunities given the capacity constrained environment.
• UBS upgraded Navistar (NAV) to buy from neutral, citing improved trucker preferences towards the company's engine technology.
• KeyBanc upgraded Crane (CR) to buy from hold based on valuation stabilization and potential upside in aerospace, among other reasons. The firm has a $39 target on the stock.
• United Therapeutics (UTHR) was upgraded to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Equifax (EFX) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Stephens.
• Brown & Brown (BRO) was upgraded to buy from hold at Citigroup.
  

Below are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage on BloggingStocks. Click through to the original posts for more details.

• Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (ANF) shares sold off after it posted a narrower Q1 net loss, but same-store sales rose.
• Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) swung from a year-ago loss to a Q2 profit that was better than expected.
• Deere & Co. (DE) reported better-than-expected Q2 earnings and improved sales, and raised its full-year outlook.
• Dell Inc. (DELL) posted better-than-expected Q1 earnings, but the gross margin was disappointing, and shares fell.
• GameStop Corp. (GME) higher Q1 earnings beat consensus estimates but same-store sales declined.
• Gap Inc. (GPS) said its higher Q1 earnings beat expectations while revenue fell in line with estimates.

Salesforce.com (CRM - option chain) shares are rising today after the company reported Q1 earnings yesterday after the close of trading, posting a profit of $17.7 million, or 13 cents per share. Excluding items, CRM earned 30 cents per share on revenue of $376.8 million, while analysts forecast a profit of 30 cents per share on revenue of $367.8 million. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on CRM.

CRM opened this morning at $73.94. So far today the stock has hit a low of $73.91 and a high of $84.07. As of 12:20, CRM is trading at $83.17 up $4.14 (5.2%). The chart for CRM looks bearish and S&P gives CRM a negative 2 STARS (out of 5) sell ranking.

Cloud computing is red-hot in the tech world. And yes, it has been a money-maker for investors, especially shareholders in Salesforce.com (CRM).

No doubt, there are other strong players in the market. But it can be easy to get overlooked.

An example is NetSuite (N). The company is a pioneer in cloud computing, getting its start in 1998. Since then, NetSuite has built a comprehensive offering of business applications for things like inventory, HR, e-commerce, accounting and so on.

Analyst Upgrades

• Morgan Joseph upgraded Cree (CREE) to buy from hold ahead of Tuesday's Q3 report. The firm, which has a $100 price target on the stock, expects LED demand to drive revenue growth as both China and the U.S. are increasingly strong.
• Janney Montgomery upgraded Salesforce.com (CRM) to buy from neutral on expectations the company will benefit from the migration of software to SaaS deployments. The firm upped its target price for shares to $94 from $67.
• Barrington upgraded Henry Schein (HSIC) to outperform from market perform, citing an attractive valuation, increased confidence in the outcome of the Butler-Schein Animal Health integration and improving momentum in dental equipment. The firm has a $74 price target for shares.
• Advance Auto Parts (AAP) was upgraded to buy from hold at BB&T.
• Red Hat (RHT) was upgraded to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.
• UBS (UBS) was upgraded to overweight from neutral at HSBC.

Customer relationship software giant Salesforce.com (CRM), which I first wrote about on June 18, 2009 at a price of $40.16, should register impressive growth in 2010 and 2011, hence the stock remains attractive, despite being a little pricey.

This year, Salesforce.com is going to face difficult quarterly sales comparisons, commonly known in Wall Street circles as 'difficult comps,' but that's a good thing: it beats the alternative. Further, look for revenue to rise 20-25% in 2010, followed by a 15-20% gain in 2011.

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

• American International Group Inc. (AIG) posted a big loss and warned it may require additional assistance.
• Athenahealth (ATHN) shares sank after it delayed earnings and its annual report, and warned of restatements.
• Barnes & Noble Inc. (BKS) Q3 sales jumped on popularity of the Nook reader but same-store sales declined.
• Brocade Communications Systems Inc. (BRCD) disappointing report and guidance caused a sell-off in shares.
• Dell Inc. (DELL) acquisitions and better-than-expected earnings may not be enough to stop shrinking market share.
• Gap Inc. (GPS) rose after it beat earnings estimates, raised its dividend and announced stock buybacks.

Not that long ago, the idea of cloud-computing was considered a fringe technology. Would major companies really allow an outside vendor to hold data -- via the Internet?

Well, the answer is yes. And of course, the biggest beneficiary is Salesforce.com (CRM), which is the pioneer of the cloud-computing mega trend.

The enterprise resource planning (ERP) software industry is mostly dominated by major players, such as Microsoft (MSFT) and SAP (SAP). However, because of the expense and complexity of the offerings, the recession has been tough. It's easy for companies to put off spending on ERP.

But there is one player in the space that continues to grow: NetSuite (N). In the latest quarter, the company posted revenues of $42.96 million, up from $41.40 million in the same period a year ago.

Google (GOOG) Apps -- which includes a suite of cloud-computing programs like Gmail, Google Docs and Google Sites -- has a decent footprint, with more than two million business customers. However, the company realizes it needs to do more as competitors come into the market, like Microsoft (MSFT) and IBM (IBM). Yes, the cloud is getting crowded.

A new book, The Prince of Silicon Valley, chronicles the dealmaking of the IPO king of the 1990s: Frank Quattrone. He made a fortune as he helped more than 100 tech companies go public, which included marquee names like Cisco (CSCO), Netscape and Amazon.com (AMZN).

But those days seem quaint. In fact, the tech IPO market has been a backwater for the past decade, even though there have been some big deals -- like the offerings of Google (GOOG) and Salesforce.com (CRM).