Also

* Hot Topic Inc., a clothing and accessories retailer aimed at teens, said fiscal fourth-quarter profit jumped 20% to $12.5 million, or 38 cents a share, beating analysts’ expectations by a penny. The City of Industry-based company said sales grew 23% in the quarter ended Feb. 2 to $109.1 million. Hot Topic also said it expects earnings of $1.03 a share for 2002, much better than the 85 cents analysts forecast. Shares of Hot Topic closed down $2.17 at $21.88 on Nasdaq, before the results were released.

* Strouds Inc., a seller of bed and bath linens, won a Bankruptcy Court judge’s approval of its liquidation plan to wind down the business and distribute money to its creditors. The judge in Wilmington, Del., approved the plan at a hearing after 95% of the City of Industry-based company’s unsecured creditors voted to accept it. The plan calls for secured creditors to be paid in full. Unsecured creditors will receive a portion of their claims from money remaining after priority claims are paid, the company said. Shareholders will receive nothing.