The 5 Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Week: Feb. 10

4. Here's Boeing!

Somebody hold us. We're scared. You see, just when we thought Boeing's (BA) Dreamliner nightmare was finally over we got struck by: The Shimming!

Boeing shares suffered a frightening 1.3% fall Monday on news that the plane maker needs to fix a fuselage problem on its already overdue line of 787s.

The plane, which entered service last year after years of delays, is the world's first commercial airplane composed primarily of lightweight carbon composites. The brass at Boeing paint the problem as "incorrect shimming" by a support structure on the aft fuselage. (For those Dumbest readers whose airplane building experience never advanced past the model variety, shims are used to close tiny gaps in joints.)

Investors took an axe to the stock despite the company's claims that the problem was not causing any immediate safety concerns and would not affect production rates. In other words, a heck of a lot of Boeing shareholders have seen this horror movie before and would rather not see it again.

The Dreamliner is about three years behind schedule because of previous snags too numerous to mention. To date, Boeing has taken 870 orders for Dreamliners but has only delivered five, all to its initial -- and very patient -- customer All Nippon Airways (ALNPY.PK). In a statement, ANA said all its Dreamliners were inspected and are operating normally.

"We have the issue well-defined and are making progress on the repair plan," said Boeing spokesman Scott Lefeber on Sunday. "There is no short-term safety concern. Repairs, should they be needed, will be implemented in the most efficient manner possible."

"Efficient"? Boeing? Dreamliner? Really?

As slasher extraordinaire Freddy Krueger would say, In your dreams Scott. In your dreams.

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