The Five Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Week

3. Apple Shiner

PortalPlayer (PLAY Quote) is suddenly showing a penchant for understatement.

Shares of the San Jose, Calif., tech company got hammered Thursday after a key product got snubbed by big customer Apple (AAPL Quote). The company disclosed Apple's decision not to use PortalPlayer's gear on high-end iPods in a terse Wednesday evening press release headlined "PortalPlayer Announces Product Transition Setback."

And quite a setback it was. PortalPlayer shares, already trading well off their 52-week high of $33 and change, dropped 42% Thursday to fetch $13.06.

The stumble comes just two weeks after PortalPlayer celebrated its victory in the EE Times Annual Creativity in Electronics Awards.

"This prestigious EE Times ACE Award recognizes that our comprehensive platform strategy enables our customers to quickly produce differentiated products with the latest multimedia features and intuitive user interfaces that resonate with consumers," CEO Gary Johnson said April 6. "As we leverage our approach into new market areas, we look forward to continuing the enablement of electronics products that people love."

For whatever reason, the enablement didn't resonate with Apple.

Dumb-o-Meter score: 85. Way to leverage your approach, guys.