Investor PM: Dow still up

Analysts on Tuesday said whatever develops in Iraq will have an extremely limited impact on Wall Street. "No reputable broker or intelligent investor would base his or her investments on one event, be it political or economical," said Don Collier, an analyst at ProLytix Corp. "That's simply not going to happen. I think the bottom-line numbers for chip makers and phone companies and peripheral makers are more important than Saddam Hussein or the President at this point."

Hewlett-Packard Co. (HWP) traded down 25 cents per share to $61.63 before announcing lower-than-expected earnings in its first quarter. Intel Corp. (INTC) picked up 88 cents per share to $84.69 while Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) slid 19 cents per share to $18.94.

Semiconductor equipment stocks fell flat Tuesday after making a serious rally late last week. Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) dropped $1.13 per share to $36.38 and Lam Research Corp. sank 50 cents per share to $28.44.

IBM Corp. (IBM) lost 38 cents per share to $102. Compaq Computer Corp. (CPQ) was off 6 cents to $35. Gateway 2000 Inc. (GTW) dipped 44 cents to close at $42.81. Dell Computer Corp. (DELL), which will announce its quarterly results Wednesday, gained 44 cents per share to $111.31.

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) took a direct hit, falling $3.13 per share to $154.38. Oracle Corp. (ORCL) slipped 88 cents to $25.63 and America Online Inc. (AOL) lost $2.25 per share to $112.