The Five Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Week

Marquee Martha Live from New York and Hollywood

2. Emmy Is for Martha

To use one of those expressions we so rarely get to use literally, as of Thursday evening the jury was still out in the criminal trial of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (MSO Quote) founder Martha Stewart.

But cheer up, Martha! Though you're probably not enjoying the uncertainty of whether you will be found innocent or guilty, some good news trickled in Thursday. Martha Stewart Living, the six-times-a-week show produced by Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia and starring Martha Stewart, was nominated for six Daytime Emmy Awards.

Yes. When the winners are announced on May 21, Martha could very well be stepping up to the podium to accept the award in such categories as Best Service Show, Best Single Camera Photography (Film or Electronic) or the hotly contested Best Main Title Design.

Or it's possible that Martha won't be on hand to accept her trophy, owing to a previous engagement at some minimum security correctional facility. In which case, when the news filters in through the prison grapevine that one of the inmates assigned to laundry duty has walked away with Best Service Show Host, we're sure that the bed sheets will be ironed with more than their usual crispness that particular day.

3. ESPN's Delay of Game

But back to Disney's 5 1/2-hour shareholder meeting, which for a time we thought would last longer than a Norwalk virus-infested cruise.

Did we mention that Disney's shareholder meeting lasted 5 1/2 hours?

Ostensibly, much of the meeting was occupied by presentations of different executives about all the great things going on at Disney. But after the 200th or so PowerPoint slide -- and after we noticed that much of the material duplicated information in the company's glossy annual report -- we began to suspect that Disney was stalling.

Dozing on Disney The mouse that snored

But we weren't the only people to get the idea that Disney was trying to bore people into leaving. Four and a half hours into the meeting -- when ESPN and ABC Sports chief George Bodenheimer took the stage -- the grumbling in the audience was more than audible. We almost felt sorry for Bodenheimer (note the italics on the word almost), but we got over it.

After 5 1/2 hours, Eisner finally took questions from shareholders. (Did we tell you that Disney's shareholder meeting lasted 5 1/2 hours?) At the end of the 20-minute Q&A -- but before election results had been announced -- he announced that the meeting was adjourned. Then he walked away from the podium as agitated shareholders yelled out the reminder, "Vote! Vote!"

Eisner returned to the podium and smiled. "I almost got away with that, eh?" he said.

We hate to be the ones to tell you this, Mike, but it doesn't look like you're going to get away with anything anymore.