Oracle 1, Maven 0

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Who is the oracle of Delphi when it comes to Oracle(ORCL)?

Not The Business Press Maven who, it should be noted, was last seen teasing Larry Ellison, chief executive of Oracle, for pontificating about the need for all-consuming focus in merging his sack of newly acquired parts while sitting on a yacht with a basketball court, preparing for his involvement in the America's Cup.

And though it pains me to put myself in harm's way, let me also remind you that I poked good snarky fun at the way Ellison called his acquisition strategy "innovative" when it looked more like he was taking the common tack of buying up everything that wasn't nailed down the moment natural growth began to slow.

Well, business journalism is a human enterprise, and sometimes The Business Press Maven is one dumb human.

Oracle reported a blowout quarter Tuesday, with revenue up 30% and earnings of 13 cents a share. Excluding items, earnings of 18 cents were 2 cents above consensus estimates.

And as if to defy me further, its applications business -- the focus of the brunt of the acquisition activity -- did really well, just as Commodore Ellison said it would.

But never one to make a mistake only once when twice will do, The Business Press Maven does want to draw your attention this morning to an otherwise positive article just across the wire from Business Week, which does urge a soupcon of caution.

Don't forget, the article urges, noting the chest-thumping of Oracle executives (who doesn't gloat when he hath proved The Business Press Maven wrong?):

Oracle spent $20 billion to get into such a strong position [in the application business]. Even with the big deals squarely in the rearview mirror, there are questions about whether the momentum will last. And although several Wall Street analysts ... agree that the company is taking share from SAP(SAP), it's unclear how much. After all, the two are pretty much competing in every single deal, so every win could be considered a market share gain.