P505ORACLE 505 Mon24 Feb C4 1714:00      Monday    Dow Jones index: 17.00 1697.60 -0.10 20.00 19.00 Close The market was lower in active trading in the early going but blue chip issues trimmed some of their losses. Advances led declines 840-533 among the 1,816 issues crossing the tape. Volume was about 45.4m compared with 59.5m in the same period on Friday. One analyst said: "Everybody is having a party but they're standing close to the door in case they have to get out." LOOKING FOR A JOB? RECRUITMENT 498