The 5 Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Week: March 23

3. Icahn Goes Hungry

Here's one for all you Dumbest fans that like to follow the so-called "smart money."

Shares of Lions Gate Entertainment (LGF) approached an all-time high this week of just under $16 a share based on the massive expectations for its upcoming release, The Hunger Games. Wall Street analysts say the futuristic film, which focuses on mortal combat between teenagers, will likely gross over $300 million and spur a $2 billion franchise.

Sadly, a lot of investors missed the run-up after they left the stock for dead last summer. You see, when activist investor Carl Icahn, one of Wall Street's oldest and best known warriors, dumped his 44 million shares for $7 apiece in August 2011 as a result of a feud with the company's management, he took a lot of hot money with him.

"We made $2.5 billion last year for our investors," Icahn told Reuters about his Lions Gate whiff. "You never want to get out early, but we did pretty well."

True Carl, but all those bandwagon barbarians who tried to storm the gate with you are probably a bit peeved right now seeing the stock where it is, especially after the ruckus you made on CNBC two years ago.

You may choose to forget, but we certainly remember you publicly maligning Lions Gate vice chairman Michael Burns, accusing him of overspending and under-delivering. Well Carl buddy, a simple chart check shows that once the company stopped fighting with you and got back to business, it really showed its management mettle. For all your gripes about the company's spending, even you can't argue with the bump in the stock after it bought Summit Entertainment's "Twilight" vampire movies for $421 million in January.

Icahn, who said he roughly broke even on his initial Lions Gate venture, continues to own 3.4 million shares of the company, according to Bloomberg. Despite his sizable stake, however, we don't hear him roaring at Lions Gate's brass the way he used to.

He may not want to admit it, so we will: It's game over Carl and you left hungry.

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