The Five Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Week

5. Team Building

Juniper (JNPR) didn't just get swept up in the options backdating probe this week. It got downright carried away.

The Sunnyvale, Calif., networking outfit said Monday it got a request from the U.S. attorney in Brooklyn for information on its stock-option grant practices. Prosecutors and the SEC have made similar inquiries at almost two dozen companies in the last month, including giants like UnitedHealth (UNH) and Caremark (CMX).

Regulators are looking into the possibility that stock options could have been timed or backdated to maximize their value to company executives. Most companies have been content to say when they got their letter and that they intend to cooperate.

But Juniper, whose shares have lost a third of their value this year as its sales growth has faded, was less guarded. Why, you could almost hear a Juniper pep rally getting under way at the end of Monday's press release.

"Juniper is a quality company whose success is the byproduct of an unwavering commitment to customers, employees, partners and shareholders," CEO Scott Kriens said in the Monday morning statement. "This will not change. We will remain focused on our business objectives while we respond to these inquiries."

You go get 'em, Scott.

Dumb-o-Meter score: 80. Maybe you're not part of the "in" crowd till you get one of these letters.

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