The Five Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Week

2. Dell Disappoints

Dell (DELL Quote) fans are growing disillusioned.

The Round Rock, Texas, personal computer company just socked investors with its second profit warning in two months. A big price war with Hewlett-Packard (HPQ Quote) is crushing earnings.

Dell has preannounced to the down side in three of the last four quarters. The forecasting follies prompted the company this spring to swear off earnings guidance. But Dell left itself a trapdoor, saying on May 18 that it expected second-quarter earnings "to be similar to its first-quarter results."

Two months later, Dell is backing off even that claim. It now projects a second-quarter profit of about 22 cents a share, down from 33 cents in the first quarter. The news sent Dell shares down 14% last Friday to a five-year low.

Even so, CEO Kevin Rollins remains upbeat.

"All of our initiatives are focused on providing the best value, experience and products to customers every day," he reassures shareholders in a statement. The effort, he promises, "will maximize shareholder value over the long term."

It certainly isn't maximizing shareholder value over the short term.

Dumb-o-Meter score: 90. "Dell is proving the worldwide applicability of its direct-business model," the company adds in a release on its annual meeting.