Yahoo and Microsoft are still seriously talking about a search and partnership deal, never-ending discussions that might or might not come to fruition. But most investors will be focused on real results this week, as both tech giants report quarterly earnings.

Yahoo reports tomorrow, while Microsoft clocks in Thursday.

But, after a ho-hum performance last week from Google, Wall Street is not expecting much from either, as the econalypse continues to take its toll on financial performance.

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Yesterday, shares of Netflix got their semiregular rocket boost–with its stock up more than five percent to close at just over $42–from rumors that Amazon was interested in acquiring Netflix.

Oh, it’s a seemingly dreamy match–the top online retailer snapping up the upstart U.S. mail-order DVD movie and television show service.

But there are some serious issues in an Amazon-Netflix marriage, so those interested in seeing the independent company in the embrace of a larger one might want to consider a more suitable and very interested candidate: Microsoft.

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Oh, they’re still talking. Except when they’re not. And, then, they are.

Such has been the course of discussions Yahoo and Microsoft continue to be engaged in about a possible partnership deal around search and online advertising.

“It runs hot, then cold, then hot, then who knows,” said one person close to the situation.

It’s kind of like a digital version of the romantic travails of Lindsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson, minus the paparazzi and screaming matches in trendy clubs.

Here’s an update of the talks.

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BoomTown is at the lovely Santa Clara Marriott in Silicon Valley at the 2009 Yahoo annual meeting, liveblogging the event, which should be spectacularly dull.

Here is a rundown of what went on.

10:05 am: The meeting kicks off with a little video presentation with various and sundry television talking heads saying “Yahoo” in quick succession.

Actually, this was the year during which all of those hype-magnets repeated “Twitter” so many times that it has began to make my ears bleed.

But I like the spirit of trying to make Yahoo seem relevant and innovative again.

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Let’s be honest–even with the sassy stylings of CEO Carol Bartz, who will be appearing at her first Yahoo annual meeting this morning–there are few of these affairs that are even remotely exciting.

Last year’s Yahoo meeting did have a frisson of possibility, since billionaire investor Carl Icahn and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer were fixing to put the double squeeze on the board and, especially, its then-CEO and co-founder Jerry Yang. Also, major Yahoo shareholders threatened a revolt.

But, none of that panned out. Thus, this year is likely to be a snoozer in comparison.

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There is no doubt that Microsoft is pulling out the stops with its launch of its renovated search service, now called Bing, with $100 million in marketing dollars.

But, besides lifting the software giant’s share of the search market in early surveys, has it also given Microsoft’s stock an added boost?

Yes, indeed, but only just over the last 30 days.

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After officially announcing that AOL was going to be spun off yesterday, Tim Armstrong, the CEO of the Time Warner online unit, held an all-hands meeting for employees today.

BoomTown reported the details of the new structure of AOL yesterday, which the former Google advertising exec discussed at the gathering.

Here is a quick synopsis of the meeting, which included a focus on content, advertising and making AOL’s acquisitions work better via a new ventures unit.

Also, a dash of Googleyness.

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One of the first Silicon Valley start-ups to go public in a long while–OpenTable–is expected to come to market this week, with venture firms hoping it will prove a tasty treat for Wall Street.

Whether the $42 million initial public offering of the online restaurant reservation service proves to be a bellwether or not is unclear since its business has–despite strong revenue gains over the last two years–run up operating losses for much of its lifespan of more than 10 years.

In any case, OpenTable is most definitely a creature of Silicon Valley. Its CEO, Jeff Jordan, is a former top eBay exec, and one of its VC backers is Benchmark Capital, among others.

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In Web years, BoomTown is now officially 143 years old.

Why? Well, I was the one who got to write the big Page One piece in The Wall Street Journal after GeoCities was sold to Yahoo in January of 1999 for $5 billion in stock.

GeoCities was, in its way, the Facebook of its time. But, instead of “friends,” its users were “homesteaders.”

As Cher so eloquently sings: Those were the days my friend, we thought they’d never end.

Except they did. Yahoo announced yesterday that it was closing the GeoCities unit down, part of new CEO Carol Bartz’s war against useless assets at the troubled company.

But let’s take a stroll down memory lane, shall we?

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Microsoft’s earnings and revenue took a hit in its third quarter, as expected, with profits down 32 percent from a year ago on a six percent sales decline.

Before one-time charges, the software giant earned $2.98 billion, or 33 cents a share after one-time charges, on revenue of $13.65 billion.

The weak results were relatively in line with analysts’ estimates of 39 cents a share on $14.1 billion in revenue.

The culprit for the bad news was the decline in consumer and business spending on computers since half Microsoft’s operating income comes from sales of its Windows operating system.

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Yahoo announced its first-quarter earnings today and results were in line with weak expectations and said it would cut five more percent out of its workforce.

The company reported an eight cent per share profit, down from 37 cents a year ago. It is a 78 percent drop, though last year Yahoo had unusual investment gains in the previous quarter.

Revenues in the current quarter was $1.6 billion, a 13 percent decline from last year’s $1.8 billion. Excluding sales Yahoo shares with its partners, the revenue was $1.16 billion, below the $1.2 billion estimates.

The company also announced it would lay off five percent more of its workforce, or almost 700 employees.

Yahoo later held a conference call, where it discussed the results and more.

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Yahoo shares leapt on the news, broken in this column Friday and confirmed by others later, that its CEO, Carol Bartz, was in discussions with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer about a possible commercial advertising and search partnership.

Yahoo’s stock rose 7.05 percent, or 95 cents a share, to close at $14.42.

In honor of that, Yahoos today must be going to the Internet giant’s homepage and clicking on its famed exclamation point, which causes the page to, well, sound off with a hillbilly Yahoooooooooo!

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Last week, the economy took a much needed breather from its toilet-circling behavior of late, with the stock market showing gains for several days running.

Who knows what today will bring, given all the volatility, but most of the big consumer-focused digital companies saw solid upticks over the last five days.

You could also feel the revelry at the South by Southwest gathering that started this weekend in Austin, Texas, with lots of Web 2.0 partying and discussions of a Twitterific-Facebooktastic future.

Maybe happy days are here again? Um, nope.

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Earlier today Microsoft decided it would drop the bomb early by moving its second-quarter earnings conference call to 8 a.m. PST instead of 2:30 p.m. PST.

BoomTown, naturally, had to liveblog the Microsoft event, in which its execs tried mightily to put lipstick on a very ugly pig. It was a good effort, at least.

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In an article in The Wall Street Journal yesterday, it was reported that newly installed Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz told an all-hands meeting “that she plans to spend a lot of time investigating whether to sell Yahoo’s search business but that her ‘gut’ was not to do that.”

Yahoo stock, no surprise, took a hit at the remark, which made it seem like Bartz–who has a tech background–was siding with the anti-search-sale geek squad burrowed deep in the heart of Yahoo and in its board too.

But as her gut was jabbering away, what was her head saying?

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