The Five Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Week

1. Ours Not to Reason Vioxx

It was only a month ago that Merck (MRK Quote) was furiously disputing a study that linked Vioxx and heart attacks.

"Merck Stands Behind the Efficacy, Overall Safety and Cardiovascular Safety of VIOXX," the company announced in an Aug. 26 press release. Merck "strongly disagrees with the conclusions" of an FDA-funded Kaiser Permanente study released earlier that week.

One of those conclusions, to refresh your memory, was that a high daily dose of Vioxx (used to treat arthritis and acute pain) increased the risk of heart attack and sudden cardiac death by more than three times. More important, a smaller, typical dose of Vioxx increased the risk of heart attack and sudden cardiac death compared with Pfizer's (PFE Quote) Celebrex, the Coke to Vioxx's Pepsi in the pain-relief market.

That wasn't the first time that people published suspicions of a link between Vioxx and increased cardiac-health risk, and that Merck denied it.

Back in April 2000, when Reuters published a story discussing the links between Vioxx and heart attacks, Merck said, no way. "In response to speculative news reports," the company said, "Merck & Co., Inc. today confirmed the favorable cardiovascular safety profile of Vioxx."

Of course, all that changed Thursday, when Merck pulled Vioxx from the market, citing new evidence of increased cardiac risk from using the drug. Investors pushed Merck's stock down 27%.

Just goes to show you one of the classic truths on Wall Street: Whatever a company says is true has to be true. Until, of course, the company says it isn't.

2. The New Travelzoo Review

Online publisher Travelzoo (TZOO Quote) had a funny message for everyone who pushed the stock up beyond $76 last week.

You overpaid.

On Thursday, the online publisher announced a deal to sell 750,000 shares to various unnamed investors in a private placement. The shares were priced at $40 apiece -- a 31% discount to Wednesday's closing price of $58.07.