The Five Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Week

5. Unattractive Economics

The picture keeps dimming at Imax (IMAX Quote).

The Toronto-based three-dimensional movie technology company blundered into another mess this week. Shares dropped 30% after Imax said it lost $11 million for the period ended Sept. 30 "primarily because it did not install any theater systems in the third quarter."

You can see where that might be a problem for a company that derives much of its revenue from installing theater systems. Imax blamed the shortfall on "the slipping of installations."

But installations aren't all that is slipping at Imax. The company put itself on the block in March, briefly sending its shares above $10. But the stock has since lost more than half its value, taking a particularly vicious drubbing back in August when Imax admitted that it had failed to find a buyer.

Imax, which also tried and failed to sell itself back in 2000, said Wednesday that the board has now cleared its bankers "to explore interest existing at a lower valuation than originally sought." The company insists it "remains committed to exploring additional interest as appropriate."

And despite the never-ending setbacks, co-CEOs Richard Gelfond and Bradley Wechsler envision a bright, shiny future. A new strategy, they claim, will help to "achieve attractive economics for the company."

If only they'd thought of that earlier. Dumb-o-Meter score: 79. Excuse investors who feel like they've seen this movie before.