The 5 Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Week: Sept. 14

4. Wynn's Big Dumb Win

Come on Joe Francis. Don't you know the house -- and by house we mean Steve Wynn -- always wins?

Notwithstanding, of course, his billion-dollar divorce settlement from wife Elaine two years ago. But that's a woman scorned, which, as we all know, is a much tougher variety than the college coeds the "Girls Gone Wild" director Francis usually traffics in.

Anyway, Wynn was awarded $20 million in damages on Monday in his defamation suit against Francis. The Wynn Resorts (WYNN) casino founder accused Francis of slander for falsely claiming on ABC's "Good Morning America" that he wanted him killed over a $2 million gambling debt. On Tuesday, the Los Angeles County Superior Court jury added another $20 million in punitive damages because Francis apparently acted with malice.

Wait a second. Let us get this straight. Wynn won $40 million because some idiot says the billionaire casino owner wants to kill him? If that's the case, how much will they give us for telling Wynn's blackjack dealers to stop murdering us at the tables?

If you ask us, the real insult to absolutely no injury is that the original sum was $8 million higher than the amount sought by Wynn's lawyers, even though Francis' cockeyed comments didn't affect Wynn's business a smidgen. Moreover, it comes on top of a $7.5 million judgment Wynn won against Francis in a separate case filed in Nevada earlier this year.

Seriously Steve, were your feelings really hurt that badly? We know your lawyer called Francis's blather "a vile, reprehensible character-assassination attempt," but we all know you've been called worse by better. In fact, we are fairly certain that your former business partner Kazuo Okada is saying some pretty nasty things about you at this very moment.

So do you want to sue him too?

Actually, scratch that question. Okada filed a $140 million defamation suit against Wynn last month in Tokyo for tossing him out of the business, so he probably will sue him back at some point if he hasn't already. Forget baccarat folks, legal tit-for-tat is the real high-stakes game for casino moguls these days and we don't see Wynn losing anytime soon.

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