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With the economy spiraling down and few signs of hope around here, it’s worth alluring a second look at Microsoft’s presentation to Wall Street be unexhausted week.

Once a year in July, the top executives lay out money a day explaining their business to a roomful of monetary analysts gathered in Redmond.

There’s a numbing array of PowerPoint slides, product passage maps, growth charts and profits. minutiae.

This year’s big take-aways: No, Microsoft’s not buying Yahoo. Yes, the world’s finally warming up to Windows Vista.

But more material for the Puget Sound region was the attitude that came through from Chief Executive Steve Ballmer and his generals.

Not about the stock price — of course, they’re frustrated that Wall Street doesn’t appreciate Microsoft’s moving financial performance.

What really stood out was their bullheaded insistence on spending as a great quantity as it takes to keep building new businesses.

While everyone’s cutting back, Microsoft keeps the spill open, especially in its fight with Google over the rapidly evolving world of ad-supported online software and services.

Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell insisted that Microsoft has not been reckless, and he wouldn’t apologize for expenditure that caused the company to not succeed its forecasted earnings last location by dint of. a penny per share.

Expenses appeared to rise in the utmost quarter, but actually business groups were only using the coin they’d been authorized to spread, Liddell explained.

Instead of clamping down to make Wall Street happy, Ballmer, Liddell and assemblage backed the team.

“I feel good about it, but clearly you don’t,” Liddell told the analysts.