The Five Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Week

Season's Greetings From Wal-Mart

T'was the day after Christmas and Wal-Mart(WMT Quote) was adding one more group to the burgeoning ranks of Americans who despise it: the large number of shoppers that tried to redeem gift cards in its stores on Dec. 26, only to be turned away due to a computer glitch.

The world's largest retailer acknowledged the problem during the post-Christmas shopping rush, when hordes of shoppers head back out to stores to redeem gift cards, exchange gifts and spend more money.

The company pinned the blame on a third-party systems provider called ValueLink, whose parent company is First Data, but this, ahem, "issue" made an already challenging retail season even harder for Wal-Mart, leaving frustrated investors to wonder, like Jack Nicholson, if this is as good as it gets.

Astonishingly, Wal-Mart, which has yet to see its shares get anywhere near the highs they set eight years ago, was only getting started.

On Monday, the retail giant announced that it closed an online movie-download service it launched less than a year ago to compete with Amazon (AMZN Quote) and Apple (AAPL Quote).

Apparently, the company -- known more for cheap prices and stingy employment practices than its online video expertise -- could not compete. But this holiday season isn't about winners or losers for Wal-Mart, and it's not about what it gets. It's about what it gives.

How much of its shareholders' cash did the world's largest retailer bury with its failed movie downloads effort anyway?

Dumb-o-meter score: 95. Unlike most things on its shelves, at least Wal-Mart's gift-card problem wasn't manufactured in China.