The Five Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Week

In a Wednesday letter to shareholders, Norris noted, "We do not believe the timing or fact of Irish's departure reflects adversely on the company's business operations, prospects or finances."

Whew. Had us worried there for a moment.

4. You and What Armstrong?

Maybe Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) isn't hopeless after all.

In early August, you may remember, we reported that the pharmaceutical company had published an unfortunate-looking newspaper ad in the wake of cyclist Lance Armstrong's fifth straight victory in the Tour de France.

That ad trumpeted the Tour of Hope, an anticancer charitable event in which Armstrong is participating. But, as we observed, the inclusion of a bicycle-riding figure in the Tour of Hope's logo -- a cyclist with arms upraised in a celebratory gesture -- had the unfortunate effect of making the Tour of Hope appear to be the Tour of Hype. Not a good thing if you're a cancer-fighting pharmaceutical company hoping to be taken sincerely.

Hostile readers weren't amused by our observation. "Have you no sense of decency sir, at long last?" they wrote us. "Have you left no sense of decency?"

We weren't quite sure how to answer that question. But, as reader Eric Newman recently pointed out to us, Bristol-Myers Squibb this week ran a new series of newspaper ads for the Tour of Hope. Without the troublesome logo.

Getting Beyond the Hype

Was there any cause and effect here? We leave that to some other research lab to verify.

5. Can You Sue Me Now?

Do you know what the difference is between corporate giants in a legal battle and two toddlers in a playground spat?

The corporations tend to say "prayer for relief" a whole lot more.

It Was Mine First Nextel and Verizon Wireless duke it out.

That's what we decided this week after Nextel (NXTL - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) sued Verizon Wireless, which is owned by Verizon (VZ - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) and Vodafone (VOD - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr).

Nextel alleges that Verizon Wireless has made false and misleading claims about the quality of its network.

Verizon Wireless counters that the only reason that Nextel is suing is to divert attention from Verizon Wireless's lawsuit claiming that Nextel improperly used prototype versions of Verizon Wireless's new walkie-talkie cell-phone handsets.

"He called me names!" screams one child.

"Well he stole my toy!" screams the other.

From a distance, it all looks the same.