InternetSalesforce.com stock drops on cautious outlook (AP)

AP - Salesforce.com Inc. kept its financial guidance within the range of analyst estimates Wednesday, disappointing investors who expected a more bullish forecast from one of the Internet's most popular software services.

SAN FRANCISCO - Salesforce.com Inc. kept its financial guidance within the range of analyst estimates Wednesday, disappointing investors who expected a more bullish forecast from one of the Internet's most popular software services. The cautious outlook overshadowed Salesforce's strong second-quarter results, causing the company's stock to drop 9 percent in after-hours trading. Salesforce said it expects to earn 34 cents or 35 cents a share for the fiscal year ending Jan. 31, excluding the costs of an acquisition it announced earlier Wednesday. Through the first half of the year, Salesforce had earned 16 cents per share. Analysts, on average, had forecast full-year earnings of 35 cents a share — a figure that didn't factor in Salesforce's $31.5 million acquisition of customer call center specialist InStranet. Salesforce expects the costs of the InStranet deal to shave 5 cents from its earnings, leaving its reported results for the full year at 29 cents or 30 cents per share. Management projected full-year revenue of $1.07 billion to $1.075 billion, in line with analyst estimates, according to Thomson Reuters. If Salesforce hits... [ Read more on www.yahoo.com ]

InternetMicrosoft's Novell Investment Tops $340M

The deal will provide a margin of profitability for Microsoft and help Novell in its fight with Red Hat.

InternetSome eBay sellers frustrated with rule changes (AP)

AP - Some people who sell things on eBay are fed up with new rules the company has been imposing in hopes of making the auction site more attractive to online shoppers. Now even more changes are coming in the next few weeks, but this time eBay Inc. hopes it can cool tempers.