The Five Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Week

Two points we might bring up, though. One, Sinclair is already hurting; the company lowered third-quarter guidance, citing auto advertising weakness and ad cancellations stemming from hurricane season.

Two, Sinclair is due to report third-quarter earnings on Nov. 4, two days after Election Day. However the presidential election turns out -- assuming we'll even know how it has turned out by then -- we wouldn't be surprised if that day's earnings call is a little noisier than normal.

5. My Favorite Marsh & McLennan

American International Group (AIG Quote) is in the news again.

Unfortunately for American International Group.

Last week, you may recall, the insurance giant disclosed that the Securities and Exchange Commission was considering taking legal action against AIG for allegedly issuing false and misleading press releases.

This week, New York state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer announced that two AIG executives had pleaded guilty to a scheme in which an insurance broker owned by Marsh & McLennan (MMC Quote) allegedly participated in illegal price-fixing and bid-rigging.

AIG, for its part, issued a statement saying it was saddened by the guilty pleas "because we hold ourselves to the highest ethical standards." AIG also indicated that it had previously sought regulatory guidance regarding the type of compensation agreements attacked by Spitzer.

Note to AIG executives: First last week, now this week. We can't wait until next week. We're dying to see if you can keep this streak going.