5 Dumbest Things on Wall Street

The 5 Dumbest Things on Wall St. This Week: March 8

twocents@thestreet.com (Gregg Greenberg) — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 12:00 GMT

5.) Au Revoir Andrew Mason

Shares of daily deal site Groupon spiked 12% on the news of CEO Andrew Mason's expulsion last Friday. They added another 6% on Monday this week and 5% on Tuesday for good measure. Based on the stock's reaction, the market clearly sees Mason's departure as a step in the right direction.

Unfortunately, we here at the Dumbest Lab take the opposite view of Mason's ouster. His shareholders may be psyched to see him go after seeing Groupon's stock drop over 70% since the company's November 2011 IPO. Nevertheless, we remain saddened by his termination, even if it was widely anticipated. ...

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The Five Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Week: March 1

twocents@thestreet.com (Gregg Greenberg) — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 12:00 GMT

5.) Avid Cuts Out

For a company that designs products to help editors, Avid Technology sure is having a tough time cutting the crap. ...

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The Five Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Week: Feb. 22

twocents@thestreet.com (Gregg Greenberg) — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 12:00 GMT

5. Burger King's Whopper

Poor Burger King. Just when the hamburger seller finally goes on a roll, it gets hit with a whopper of a cyber attack. ...

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The Five Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Week: Feb. 15

twocents@thestreet.com (Gregg Greenberg) — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 12:00 GMT

5. EnteroMedics Gets Zapped

If only EnteroMedics' diet device could slim obese patients as well as it did the company's stock price, then the company's shareholders would be in a much weightier position. ...

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The Five Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Week: Feb. 8

twocents@thestreet.com (Gregg Greenberg) — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 12:00 GMT

5. Berlusconi Comes Back

Bentornato, Berlusconi! It's so nice to have you back where you belong. ...

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The Five Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Week: Feb. 1

twocents@thestreet.com (Gregg Greenberg) — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 12:00 GMT

5. Herbalife Hysteria

For the love of Barnum and Bailey! The Herbalife circus has officially grown larger than its warring clowns. ...

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The Five Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Week: Jan. 25

twocents@thestreet.com (Gregg Greenberg) — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 12:00 GMT

5. Caterpillar's Imprudence

The Chinese were the first people to spin silk from a caterpillar. In the city of Suzhou, for example, artisans have been producing silk the same way for over 4,000 years.

Well, judging by the ability of a wormy little Chinese machinery company to spin Dow-component Caterpillar in circles, they are clearly upgrading the ancient trade to suit a modern world. ...

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The Five Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Week: Jan. 18

twocents@thestreet.com (Gregg Greenberg) — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 13:17 GMT

5. Boeing's Bad Dream

Just when Boeing's brass finally thought they could sleep at night, the company's recurring Dreamliner nightmare once again turns the heavenly skies into their own version of Elm Street.

Heck, even Freddy Krueger must be tired of Boeing's media bloodbath by now -- and he haunted kids' dreams in nine movies! ...

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The 5 Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Week: Jan. 11

twocents@thestreet.com (Gregg Greenberg) — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 14:28 GMT

5. Sokol's Low Blow

Say it ain't so, Sokol! We knew you were a shady character, but we didn't think you were this dark.

One-time Berkshire Hathaway big shot David Sokol mocked his former mentor, Warren Buffett, last Friday, scorning the billionaire investor after regulators cleared him of any wrongdoing regarding the trade that led to his March 2011 resignation. Sokol, in case you've forgotten, was once Buffett's golden boy, as well as a leading candidate to succeed the octogenarian as chief of the $232 billion dollar holding company. He fell from grace, however, after it was revealed he personally bought a boatload of Lubrizol shares before pitching the chemical maker to Buffett as an ideal investment for Berkshire. ...

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The 5 Dumbest Things on Wall Street: Predictions for 2013

twocents@thestreet.com (Gregg Greenberg) — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 13:06 GMT

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- We made it, Dumbest fans! It's 2013, and we're still kicking. Hopefully you enjoyed your New Year's celebration and have by now shaken off the vicious hangover from all the unhealthy things you absorbed over the holiday season.

Yes, we, too, didn't think our bodies could stand a second more of CNBC's unrelenting, merciless fiscal-cliff coverage, but in the end -- unlike those unfortunate Mayans -- we survived.

Speaking of the Mayans, all their wacky end-of-the-world predictions really got us thinking that we should get into that business too. Not the extinction part, of course. We're talking about the prognostication part. Heck, if Wall Street's analyst community can make wildly inaccurate forecasts every January and still keep their jobs, then why can't we? ...

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The 10 Dumbest Things on Wall Street in 2012

twocents@thestreet.com (Gregg Greenberg) — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 12:00 GMT

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- It's long been customary for partygoers on New Year's Eve to count down the seconds while watching the ceremonial ball drop in New York City's Times Square. Down here at the Five Dumbest Lab, we have a year-end ritual of our own: We count down the 10 biggest moments on Wall Street in which a CEO or company dropped the ball.

Before we start ticking down our favorite flubs from 2012, however, we want to wish all of our readers a happy and healthy 2013. Thanks for all your suggestions, tips and feedback. We hope to see you all in the New Year, but for your own sake, not on one of our dumbest lists.

Daily-deal site Groupon gave its shareholders a pretty raw deal in 2012. The company's stock lost two-thirds of its value and CEO Andrew Mason made frequent appearances on our weekly Dumbest list. Had Groupon investors seen this early warning from last January, they could have saved themselves a lot of headaches ... and money! ...

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The 10 Dumbest Things on Wall Street in 2012

twocents@thestreet.com (Gregg Greenberg) — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 13:25 GMT

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The Five Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Week: Dec. 14

twocents@thestreet.com (Gregg Greenberg) — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 12:00 GMT

5. Netflix Nuttiness

Forgive us for being a little late to the party, but we just wanted to weigh in on Netflix's Wells notice before CEO Reed Hastings ditches this shindig and dons a lampshade at another bash.

After the market's close Dec. 6, the ever-entertaining Hastings revealed he received the SEC warning for making a Facebook post this past summer that purportedly ran afoul of Wall Street's Fair Disclosure Act. The regulator will now decide whether to proceed with a civil injunction against Netflix and Hastings over the alleged violation. ...

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The Five Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Week: Dec. 7

twocents@thestreet.com (Gregg Greenberg) — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 12:52 GMT

5. Darden's Dumb Excuse

If Darden's CEO thinks the press is out to get him over his Obamacare cutbacks, then, to borrow a phrase from Animal House, "Wait till Otis sees us!"

Shares of the restaurant company sank more than 10% on Tuesday after head honcho Clarence Otis lowered financial expectations for both Darden's fiscal second quarter and full year, citing a drop in business at its Olive Garden, Red Lobster and LongHorn Steakhouse chains. For its 2013 fiscal year, Darden said it expected earnings of $3.29 to $3.49 per share, significantly down from the company's earlier guidance of $3.76 to $3.90. Prior to Darden's preannouncement, Wall Street's consensus 2013 estimate was $3.88. ...

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The Five Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Week: Nov. 30

twocents@thestreet.com (Gregg Greenberg) — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 12:00 GMT

5. AMR Insanity

We here at the Dumbest Lab have long deemed buying airline shares a dubious enterprise considering the sky-high rate of bankruptcies in the sector. Investing in flat-out bankrupt airlines like AMR, well, that's just plain dumb in our opinion.

Not that it's stopping a select group of schmucks mind you. ...

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The 5 Dumbest Things on Wall Street: The All-HP Edition

twocents@thestreet.com (Gregg Greenberg) — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 12:00 GMT

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Happy Thanksgiving Dumbest fans! Hopefully you enjoyed a fantastic Turkey Day filled with friends and family, and are now working off all that bird by battling the Black Friday crowds at a mall near you.

And speaking of thankfulness, you know what we here at the Dumbest Lab gave thanks for this Thursday while we were elbows deep in cranberry sauce and walnut stuffing?

You guessed it, the overflowing bounty of dumbness bestowed upon us by our good friends at Hewlett Packard. ...

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The 5 Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Week: Nov. 16

twocents@thestreet.com (Gregg Greenberg) — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 12:00 GMT

5. Lockheed Goes Loony

Poor, poor Christopher Kubasik. Lockheed Martin's next CEO just couldn't keep his weapon of self-destruction in his pants.

Last Friday, the defense contractor ousted Kubasik, the company's president who was scheduled to take the top job from the retiring Robert Stevens in January, over an improper relationship with an employee. Lockheed said an ethics investigation confirmed that the married executive had a close personal relationship with a subordinate, violating the company's code of ethics and business conduct. ...

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The Five Smartest Things on Wall Street This Week: Nov. 9

twocents@thestreet.com (Gregg Greenberg) — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 12:00 GMT

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Be it ever so dumb, there is no place like Wall Street.

What's up Dumbest fans? Sorry if you missed our column last week, but like a lot of other unfortunate folks here on the East Coast, Hurricane Sandy had other, far more pressing plans for us. While we thankfully made it through the savage storm without significant loss of life, limb or property, Sandy did make it virtually impossible for us to publish our weekly countdown of Wall Street's biggest blunders.

Yes folks, it is nearly impossible to speak truth to power when --electricity-wise -- you are completely powerless. ...

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The Five Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Week: Oct. 26

twocents@thestreet.com (Gregg Greenberg) — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 11:00 GMT

5. AIG's Audacity

Thank you Bob Benmosche. From the bottom of our hearts, thank and God bless you.

Why, you are probably wondering, are we heaping such a generous dose of gratitude upon AIG's CEO? ...

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The Five Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Week: Oct. 19

twocents@thestreet.com (Gregg Greenberg) — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 11:00 GMT

5. J.C. Penney's Pusher

J.C. Penney CEO Ron Johnson once referred to coupons as a "drug" habit that his addicted customers needed to break. Well, judging by his surprise e-mail late last week, Ron seems to be the one who cracked.

Johnson sent an e-mail last Thursday to Penney's customers -- the remaining ones that is -- which included a $10 "gift" to thank them for sticking with his struggling department store despite his radical pricing and appearance changes. In case you may have forgotten, J.C. Penney stopped offering coupons back in February in favor of an approach that stresses everyday low prices. ...

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The Five Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Week: Oct. 12

twocents@thestreet.com (Gregg Greenberg) — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 11:00 GMT

5. Tessera's Travel Tips

Have no fear all you Californians getting killed by $5 bucks a gallon gas. Thanks to our friends at Tessera Technologies , we have found a solution to ease your pump pain: Commute from Connecticut instead.

No joshing. According to regulatory filings released late last week, the semiconductor and digital optics company plans to pay its CEO Robert Young a whopping $150,000 per year to shuttle back and forth between his Connecticut home and Tessera's San Jose offices. The stipend comes on top of Young's $684,000 annual base salary for 2012, and a bonus that can reach up to 100% of that amount. ...

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The 5 Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Week: Oct. 5

twocents@thestreet.com (Gregg Greenberg) — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 12:12 GMT

5. Abbott's College Craziness

In response to last Thursday's news that Abbott Labs misstated the academic credentials of one of its most senior executives, we here at the 5 Dumbest Lab decided to call the drug maker to get the facts straight.

5 Dumbest: Hey Abbott. What's the name of the college where Richard Gonzalez got his degree? ...

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The 5 Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Week: Sept. 28

twocents@thestreet.com (Gregg Greenberg) — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 10:00 GMT

5. Blyth's Catch-22

If only Blyth could somehow combine its candle-making and weight-loss businesses then maybe its shareholders will stop getting burned at both ends.

Blyth stockholders were less than blithe (the happy kind of blithe) this past week after seeing their shares plunge more than 40% to $25 as a result of a Moody's downgrade and the company's subsequent decision to abandon the IPO of its rapidly growing nutritional products division ViSalus. The ratings agency chopped its view of Blyth to "negative" from "stable" late last Thursday, citing concerns about the company's financial wherewithal once it completed its plan to spin off ViSalus. Moody's decision put so much selling pressure on the stock that Blyth ultimately announced on Wednesday it would cancel the offering and keep the division in house. ...

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The 5 Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Week: Sept. 14

twocents@thestreet.com (Gregg Greenberg) — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 12:39 GMT

5. Nokia's No-No

Question: If a picture is worth a thousand words then what's the value of Nokia's misleading Lumia video?

Answer: One big fat apology and heaps of ridicule from folks like us. ...

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The 10 Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Summer

twocents@thestreet.com (Gregg Greenberg) — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 10:00 GMT

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- So long summer! It's been such a tremendous season of unadulterated dumbness that we here at the 5 Dumbest Lab really, really hate to see you go.

Labor Day is upon us and that means our friends on Wall Street will soon be trading their casual polo shirts for pinstripes and power ties. Yes, it's time for America's captains of industry to get back to business. Monkey and otherwise.

But before officially saying goodbye to what has been a three-month bull market for both stupidity and stocks, we wanted to reminisce just one more time about some of the highlights -- or lowlights -- of summer 2012. So please enjoy the 10 Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Summer. See you in the fall. ...

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The 10 Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Summer

twocents@thestreet.com (Gregg Greenberg) — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 10:00 GMT

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- So long summer! It's been such a tremendous season of unadulterated dumbness that we here at the 5 Dumbest Lab really, really hate to see you go.

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The 5 Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Week: Aug. 24

twocents@thestreet.com (Gregg Greenberg) — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 10:00 GMT

5. Swisher Flushes CEO

Things continue to get messy over at Swisher Hygiene . ...

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The Five Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Week: Aug. 17

twocents@thestreet.com (Gregg Greenberg) — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 10:00 GMT

5. Manchester United's Kick Off

Nearly 32 million shares of Manchester United got kicked around on its first day as a public company. That's a lot of action considering the team only put 16.7 million shares on the market. ...

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The 5 Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Week: Aug. 10

twocents@thestreet.com (Gregg Greenberg) — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 11:00 GMT

5. Standard Chartered's Devils in the Details

The great Italian poet Dante Alighieri probably has a ring in his Inferno for the evildoers at Standard Chartered. ...

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The 5 Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Week: Aug. 3

twocents@thestreet.com (Gregg Greenberg) — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 10:00 GMT

5. Apple's Old News The ink-stained wretches at the major newspapers sure must be desperate for something to write about this summer. Seriously, why else would the NY Times and WSJ be trotting out warmed-over stories about Apple making an investment in Twitter?

As dutifully captured by TheStreet's very own media maven Marek Fuchs, both papers convulsed this past weekend with reports that Apple had discussions with Twitter about investing in the San Francisco-based social network. The Times was the worse by far of the two worst offenders, deemed Fuchs, leading with the headline: "Apple Officials Said to Consider Stake in Twitter," thereby misleading readers into thinking that the talks were in fact ongoing. ...

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