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Stocks closed lower on Wall Street Wednesday. 

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 102.52 to 7806.98. The Nasdaq
composite index lost 25.30 to 1303.68, and the S&P 500 fell 11.02 to
827.55. Declines led advances, 1866-1189, on the New York Stock
Exchange in volume of 1,316,852,000 shares. On Nasdaq, declines led
advances, 1926-1249. The Arms index, or Trin, was a high 3.81 on
Nasdaq, indicating volume was concentrated in declining stocks.

The S&P March future filled a gap that formed on Tuesday's down
opening between 831.00 and 826.50, trading as low as 825.50 before
closing at 827.80.

Bonds rallied, the 10-year note yield falling to 3.77% from 3.81% late
Tuesday. The yield on the 2-year note at Wednesday's auction of 1.575%
was the lowest ever.

(AP) "The conflict in the Middle East is on the forefront of
everyone's mind," said John Forelli, portfolio manager for
Independence Investment LLC in Boston. "We are just sort of battening
down the hatches and trying to figure out what is going to go on in
the Middle East. The hope in the back of everyone's minds is there is
a quick resolution and that businesses and consumers start spending
again and give investors some faith in the market."

"I have rarely seen this much pessimism not turn into a rally. But it
is just hard to be positive," said Mike Weiner, managing director of
equities at Banc One Investment Advisors in Columbus, Ohio.

The Dow open, theoretical intraday high and low: 7907.39; 7944.93;
7767.06.

(AP) Hewlett-Packard (NYSE-HPQ), -$2.81 to $15.37 as the second most
active NYSE issue, reported first-quarter net income of 29 cents a
share, excluding one-time items, topping First Call expectations of 28
cents. Revenue of $17.9 billion trailed the $18.5 billion estimate
reported by Multex.com, however.

Peter Kastner, chief research officer of Aberdeen Group, said the
company faces formidable challenges in sales of printers and ink
cartridges. "They are seeing more competition from third-party toner
cartridges," Kastner said.

Allegheny Energy (NYSE-AYE), -$2.65 to $5.55, will sell its Conemaugh
generating station to UGI (NYSE-UGI) for $51.25 million. Allegheny
also said it closed $2.4 billion of new bank credit facilities for
itself and two subsidiaries. Fitch said the credit facilities avert
potential bankruptcy and provides sufficient liquidity to carry on
operations, but the terms will pressure the companies to sell assets
and find new sources of capital.

Kenneth Cole Productions (NYSE-KCP), -$3.04 to $22.75, reported
fourth-quarter net income of 41 cents a share, a nickel better than
First Call estimates. But it sees first-quarter earnings of 30-32
cents a share, trailing First Call's estimate of 33 cents.

Suez (NYSE-SZE), -$1.79 to $12.71, said Wednesday that the Suez
accounts which will be approved by the Board of Directors on March 5
are totally in line with the estimates given to the market on January
9, the date the action plan was announced. Suez said it was requesting
an enquiry into the erratic movement of the shares and "false rumours"
spread on the market.

(AP) Morgan Stanley (NYSE-MWD), -$0.75 to $35.42, was lower after the
Wall Street Journal reported that the brokerage house could face
charges in an initial public offering investigation.

Papa John's International (NASDAQ-PZZA), +$1.15 to $24.10, reported
fourth-quarter pro forma earnings of 59 cents a share, a penny shy of
Wall Street's expectations.

Handleman (NYSE-HDL), +$1.59 to $13.44, said its board has authorized
the company to repurchase up to 20% of its outstanding common stock.
This new authorization replaces the previous 10% authorization. The
company intends to finance the repurchase program with internally
generated funds, which include cash expected from the proposed sale of
Madacy Entertainment. Handleman is currently in a blackout period
which prohibits it from repurchasing shares until March 25, due to a
change in the Company's 401(k) plan administrator.

Hollis-Eden Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ-HEPH), -$0.70 to $5.29, said it
has raised $10 million in gross proceeds from the sale of 7.5%
convertible debentures in a private placement. The debentures mature
in three years.

(AP) Microsoft (NASDAQ-MSFT), -$0.59 to $23.60, was upgraded by
Deutsche Securities to "buy" from "hold."

(AP) Amgen (NASDAQ-AMGN), -$0.61 to $53.25, predicted Tuesday that its
sales would increase by 30%-32% in each of the next three years and
that annual earnings per share over the same period would grow between
25% and 27%. Analyst Bill Tanner of Leerink Swann & Co. said much of
that growth would be driven by Amgen's anemia-fighting drug Aransep.

American Pharmaceutical Partners (NASDAQ-APPX), -$2.87 to $19.16,
reported fourth-quarter net income of 38 cents a share, 4 cents above
First Call estimates. The company said it expects 2003 net income to
increase 20% to 25% from 2002's 90 cents a share, excluding costs
associated with commercialization of ABI-007. That equates to net
income of $1.08-$1.12 per share. Analysts surveyed by First Call
expected $1.05.

Autodesk (NASDAQ-ADSK), +$0.81 to $14.10, reported fourth-quarter net
income of 7 cents per share, pro forma, topping First Call's estimate
of 5 cents.

MCSi (NASDAQ-MCSI), -$0.87 to $0.71, reported a loss of $222.5 million
in 2002, including a non-cash charge of $161.7 million. The company
said it is in violation of certain credit covenants.

(AP) Lucent (NYSE-LU), +$0.06 to $1.51, was removed from Standard &
Poor's credit watch list. S&P said it would keep Lucent's debt rating
at B-, or below investment grade. S&P said Lucent had made some
progress, citing cost cuts and stabilized cash flow, but "significant
challenges" remain.

(AP) Ahold (NYSE-AHO), -$0.33 to $3.11, the world's third largest food
retailer, tumbled for a third consecutive day Wednesday on reports
that the SEC will investigate accounting irregularities at its U.S.
subsidiary.

Eaton Vance (NYSE-EV), -$0.87 to $25.23, reported fiscal first-quarter
earnings of 37 cents a share, 3 cents short of analyst's expectations.

(AP) IMC Global (NYSE-IGL), +$0.06 to $8.50, was upgraded by Salomon
Smith Barney to "outperform" from "underperform."

(AP) Legg Mason reiterated its "buy" recommendation on Adolph Coors
(NYSE-RKY), +$1.02 to $48.37.

(AP) Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ-URBN), +$1.60 to $18.60, was upgraded by
Fulcrum to "buy" from "neutral."

(AP) Oracle (NASDAQ-ORCL), -$0.22 to $11.72, was raised by Sanford
Bernstein to "outperform" from "market perform."

(AP) American Eagle Outfitters (NASDAQ-AEOS), -$0.44 to $14.42, was
lowered by Wedbush Morgan to "hold" from "buy."

(AP) Mirant (NYSE-MIR), -$0.23 to $1.39, said it would delay the
release of its quarterly and year-end earnings because of an ongoing
audit.

(AP) DaimlerChrysler AG (NYSE-DCX), -$0.82 to $29.34, more than
doubled the pay of its 13 top executives last year, according to the
auto giant's 2002 annual report filed Wednesday.

(AP) Fleming Cos. (NYSE-FLM), +$0.35 to $2.20, said Wednesday its head
of wholesale operations, E. Stephen Davis, is retiring after 43 years
with the company. He will be replaced by William May, senior vice
president of operations since last year and a former distribution
executive at retailer The Gap.

Sonic Solutions (NASDAQ-SNIC), +$0.53 to $4.63, signed a licensing
agreement that allows America Online to incorporate Sonic's CD-audio,
CD-ROM and DVD-ROM burning technologies into its interactive and
web-based applications and services. AOL Time Warner (NYSE-AOL),
-$0.16 to $10.27 launched MusicNet Wednesday, a premium music
subscription service.

Semtech (NASDAQ-SMTC), +$1.13 to $13.40, earned 11 cents a share in
the fourth quarter, a penny above First Call estimates. The
semiconductor supplier forecast first-quarter net income of 11 cents,
also a penny above estimates.

Intrawest (NYSE-IDR), +$0.34 to $10.95, said it is separating the bulk
of its production-phase real estate business into independent
companies through two new partnerships. Intrawest expects its capital
requirements to decline significantly as a result.

Hancock Fabrics (NYSE-HKF), -$2.68 to $14.70, reported fourth-quarter
net income of 47 cents a share, trailing First Call's 51-cent
estimate.

(UPI) Luxury jeweler Tiffany & Co. (NYSE-TIF), +$1.42 to $23.71, said
fourth-quarter net income rose to $89.3 million, or 60 cents a share,
from $82.7 million, or 55 cents a share a year-earlier. Analysts
surveyed by First Call expected 59 cents a share.

(UPI) Ruby Tuesday (NYSE-RI), +$1.50 to $17.90, reiterated its
third-quarter earnings projections of 38-39 cents a share but cut
forecasts for same-store sales growth in the period to 0.5% from
1.0%-1.5% because of the recent severe winter weather.

Terra Lycos (NASDAQ-TRLY), -$0.72 to $4.94, wrote down 1.4 billion
euros in assets in the fourth quarter. Along with other non-cash
charges, that resulted in a net loss for the year of 2 billion euros.
Excluding asset write-downs, net income would have been 423 million
euros (applying 2001 tax rates), a 25% improvement.

(MktNews) Prudential raised its rating on the paper industry to
"market outperform," noting increased demand on reduced capacity.
Prudential also raised its rating on International Paper (NYSE-IP),
+$0.02 to $34.94.

(MktNews) Tyco International (NYSE-TYC), +$0.48 to $14.75, rallied
after J.P. Morgan attached an "overweight" rating on the stock. "We
view recent weakness in Tyco shares as unwarranted, creating a second
chance for investors to own an inexpensive turnaround story that we
believe is progressing very well," Morgan said.

(MktNews) Homebuilder Hovnanian Enterprises (NYSE-HOV), +$0.08 to
$33.01, was upgraded by Salomon Smith Barney.

Inamed (NASDAQ-IMDC), +$2.73 to $31.82, reported fourth-quarter "cash
earnings" of 57 cetns a share, topping First Call's 54 cent estimate.

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (NYSE-POT), +$2.85 to $59.96, said it
sold its 2003 natural gas futures contracts to take advantage of
current high gas markets. "While our hedging program is designed not
to speculate, but rather to minimize the volatility of natural gas
prices in the production of ammonia, the recent extreme circumstances
provided an opportunity to capture potential future value," said
president and CEO Bill Doyle.

Emcor Group (NYSE-EME), +$2.02 to $48.04, reported fourth-quarter net
income of $1.38 per share, a penny above First Call estimates. Organic
revenue growth was 11.9%.

McMoRan Exploration (NYSE-MMR), -$0.68 to $6.19, said the South Marsh
Island Block 207 exploratory well and Garden Banks Block 228 well did
not contain commercial hydrocarbons. McMoRan said $800,000 in costs
attributed to the latter well will be charged against first-quarter
earnings.

NetEase.com (NASDAQ-NTES), -$2.26 to $12.59, reported fourth-quarter
net income of 17 cents per ADR, topping First Call estimates of 14
cents. The provider of Internet technology in China also said that
settlement of a class action lawsuit claiming the company misstated
its 2000 revenue has been submitted to District Court for preliminary
approval. -- edited by Stewart Winograd

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