MSPmentor

Led by Salary.com, the SaaS 20 Stock Index, which tracks the software as a service market, has posted one of its strongest showings this year. The index rose 3.30% for the week ended August 1 — easily beating one-week performances for the Dow (down 0.5%) and the S&P 500 (up .02%).

The SaaS 20 Stock Index’s biggest weekly winners were:

• Salary.com (SLRY, +22.73%)
• Websense Inc. (WBSN, +16.20%)
• Concur Technology Inc. (CNQR, +14.45%)
• Taleo Corp. (TLEO, +13.95%) and
• RightNow (RNOW, +12.25%)

Still, the news wasn’t all good. The index’s biggest weekly losers were Omniture Inc. (OMTR, -7.28%) and SuccessFactors Inc. (SFSF, -6.45%). And despite a one-month rally, the index is still down more than 13% so far this year.

Here’s a closer look at some of the weekly trends.

Winners:

• Salary.com shares jumped sharply because the company announced Q1 revenue results that were “at the upper end of guidance,” noted CEO Ken Plunkett in a prepared statement. Indeed, Q1 revenue jumped 33 percent compared to the corresponding quarter last year. Salary.com specializes in on-demand “compensation and talent management solutions” — a fancy way of saying they’re a Web 2.0 HR company.
• Concur, Taleo, Websense, and also announced strong results.
• Perhaps most importantly, RightNow delivered strong results. The company is a true pure-play SaaS organization — and is considered a bellwether for the SaaS industry.

All of the positive financial news gave investors new hope that the SaaS industry truly is moving forward — despite a surprisingly negative SaaS article in BusinessWeek.

In early July, our SaaS 20 Stock Index had been down roughly 20% for the year, but a multi-week rally has helped to trim the index’s year-to-date loss to around 13%.