The Battle Road Tech Index™ rose 3.9 percent for the week ended May 14, 2010, closing at 1738. For the week, 23 of the 25 Index components rose in value. Year-to-date, the index is up 3.5 percent, having started at a value of 1680.

Netflix (NFLX), Salesforce.com (CRM), Akamai (AKAM), and Apple (AAPL) were notable movers for the week:

Shares of Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX, $100.56) rallied 10.4 percent this week, even as it absorbed the shock of several downgrades published by Wall Street’s investment banks, some of whom may fear that a deal with Amazon.com is no longer imminent. Netflix may have advanced prior to Thursday afternoon’s revelation that Blockbuster (NYSE: BBI)’s balance sheet revealed further flaws coinciding with its earnings release which sent its shares below $0.45.

Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM, $84.72) continued its winning streak, gaining 9.3 percent this week as the company approaches its Q1 earnings release. Salesforce is among the cloud computing pioneers and has allowed customers to run custom applications on its servers for a few years. Its plethora of cloud product offerings on top of its traditional salesforce automation product should sustain the company’s impressive growth for some time.

Shares of Akamai (NASDAQ: AKAM, $38.90) soared 8.9 percent after the stock lost some ground last week. Investors have been bullish on the name since it posted strong first quarter results and hinted at an even better full year. Akamai’s services are widely used to efficiently deliver websites, applications, and videos, and as internet advertising and video streaming pick up, the company will benefit with corresponding growth.

Shares of Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL, $253.82) climbed 7.6 percent, rallying off of last week’s sell off. Persistent rumors of a new iPhone with sleeker packaging, higher screen resolution, and perhaps longer battery life —coupled with first time ever support for non-AT&T networks —continue to circulate. Further, the company may be expanding its brick and mortar retail support for the iPad which, so far, is only carried by Apple’s retail stores and Best Buy.