The Five Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Week

2. Feet of Clay

Ford (F Quote) is shifting gears.

Longtime CEO William Clay Ford, Jr. finally relinquished the reins of his great-grandfather's company this week. The Dearborn, Mich., automaker tapped Boeing (BA Quote) exec Alan Mulally as its new chief executive.

Bill Ford was quick to praise Mulally for reviving Boeing's commercial airline business after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. The experience should steel the 61-year-old Mulally to grapple with tough foreign competition, rising gas prices and Ford's high costs.

"Clearly, the challenges Boeing faced in recent years have many parallels to our own," said Bill Ford, who will remain chairman.

He should know. Ford, 49, has been struggling with those problems since he toppled his predecessor, Jacques Nasser, back in October 2001.

Bill Ford certainly wasn't shy about promising aggressive action. He shook up management countless times and pledged to slash thousands of jobs. He insisted he would make Ford a greener company and improve quality. He even went so far as to give this year's restructuring plan a catchy name -- the Way Forward.

"We want to have an even greater impact on the world in our next 100 years," Bill Ford said in typically high-flown fashion back in 2001, "than we did in our last 100."

Yet Ford shares fell 36% over his term, as rivals like Toyota (TM Quote) gained sales momentum. With that performance in mind, investors may have found themselves slightly unsettled by Ford's parting shot.

"Let me assure you," Bill Ford wrote, "I'm not going anywhere."

Sounds like Ford stock may not be ready for takeoff just yet.

Dumb-o-Meter score: 91. "I'll be here every day, and I will not rest until a prosperous future for this company is secured," Ford said Tuesday.