The teen retailer said profit rose 44% to 99 cents a share, up from 67 cents a share a year prior and topping analyst estimates for 95 cents a share. The earnings growth came as the top line swelled 16% to $802.1 million, with a 9% increase in same-store sales. “The company continued its highly successful strategy of optimizing key classifications while driving traffic with fresh and new promotions, and management commented that studies show that they continue to gain recognition and preference in the minds of consumers, wrote Sterne Agee analyst Margaret Whitfield. Looking ahead, Aeropostale projected first-quarter earnings of 39 cents to 40 cents a share, which was better than the 37 cents a share Wall Street analysts were expecting on average. It earned a slew of positive analyst movements, including an upgrade from Piper Jaffray and, and inspired Jefferies, Sterne Agee and others to lift their price target and estimates. [Read the full article]

The goals were outlined at a recent analyst meeting held by the company in New York. The company hopes to achieve these targets by focusing on natural gas shale plays and what it calls "mega projects."

Natural Gas ShaleAnadarko Petroleum has about 600,000 acres in various shale plays in the U.S., including the Marcellus, the Eagle Ford and the Haynesville Shale. The company plans on spending 10% of its $5.3-5.6 billion in capital on these plays in 2010.

Anadarko Petroleum is involved in a joint venture with Chesapeake Energy (NYSE:CHK) to help develop its acreage in the Marcellus Shale.

Mega ProjectsAnadarko Petroleum mega projects are scheduled to receive 22%, or approximately $1.2 billion, in 2010. The company has identified six "world-class discoveries" that it wants to bring to production by 2016. These projects are costly and weighted towards oil production. Two important ones are the Jubilee Project and Caesar-Tonga. [Read the full article]

Direxion Shares has just launched six leveraged long/short ETFs linked to emerging markets and semiconductor stocks. The funds use leverage, meaning they're intended to deliver magnified performance.

The Direxion Daily BRIC Bull 2x Shares (NYSEArca: BRIL - News) aims to deliver 200% daily leverage to BRIC securities. BRIC is an acronym used to identify Brazil, Russia, India and China.

In 2009, ETFs linked to BRIC stocks like the iShares MSCI BRIC Index Fund (NYSEArca: BKF - News) climbed around 90% in value.

The opposite trade of BRIL is the Direxion Daily BRIC Bear 2x Shares (NYSEArca: BRIS - News). BRIS attempts to achieve 200% daily inverse performance to BRIC stocks.

The Direxion Daily India Bull 2x Shares (NYSEArca: INDL - News) targets stocks from India aiming for 200% daily leverage. [Read the full article]