Stocks started strong on Monday but ended the day unchanged, as investors awaited key earnings later this week from Intel, IBM and Microsoft.

The Nasdaq slipped 1 to 1446, the S&P 500 was down 1 to 926, and the Dow tacked on a point to 8785. Volume declined to 1.36 billion shares on the NYSE, and 1.6 billion on the Nasdaq. Advancers led by a few issues on the NYSE, but decliners edged advancers on the Nasdaq. Downside volume was 50% on the NYSE, and 59% on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 100-30 on the NYSE, and 100-18 on the Nasdaq.

After the close, Rambus topped estimates, Varian raised guidance and Photon Dynamics delayed its first-quarter earnings release until later this month.

During the day, AOL Time Warner gained 1% as Chairman Steve Case resigned, the last America Online executive to hold a major post in the combined company.

Dell fell 4.2% on a JP Morgan downgrade based on valuation and PC sales outlook. The company also moved into the electronic cash register market.

Intel slipped 0.2% ahead of tomorrow night's earnings report, the first of several high-profile earnings reports due out this week. Yahoo and QLogic report Wednesday, and IBM, eBay and Microsoft report Thursday.

Microsoft rose 0.8% after the company offered $1.1 billion to settle California class action suits.

Yahoo, off 1.7%, added free video and audio clips to its personal ads.

Next Level soared 34% on a takeover bid from parent Motorola.

Brocade edged higher on a deal with Sun. Sun, which slipped a penny, unveiled Web services server software.

Palm, up 4.1%, signed a handwriting technology deal with Communication Intelligence, which gained 8.6%.

Microchip fell 6.5% on earnings concerns.

Nextel rose 0.4% as it began nationwide rollout of its Direct Connect service.

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