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

2. Tibco's Takedown

Remember that hilarious scene from Annie Hall when Woody Allen pulls media expert Marshall McLuhan from out of nowhere to put an overbearing know-it-all in his place and then muses to the camera about how the world would be wonderful "if life were only like this?"

Well, we here at the Dumbest Lab found a nice little slice of life this week that might give Woody hope.

On Tuesday shares of Tibco Software (TIBX) sank right out of the gate, falling as much as 11% after ThinkEquity analyst Yun Kim warned investors that there may be "lingering organizational issues" within the company's Americas region. Kim added that his "additional checks" since early last week convinced him that Tibco's problems could lead to a "sizable headcount reduction" in that division.

Putting it all together, Kim downgraded his view of the stock to a hold from buy and lowered his price target to $32 from $36.

Yes, much like the pompous yammerer in Allen's Oscar-winning movie, Kim spouted out his so-called facts based on his reported digging, except in this case he did it in a research note.

Too bad that with the stock still down in the dumps, Tibco pulled a Woody by publicly calling Kim out on his research.

"Third party research on Tibco Software has been released recently that indicate Tibco is planning for or has recently undertaken a major reduction in force. Tibco did not engage in such an action, or incur any related restructuring charge, in its third fiscal quarter and is not currently contemplating such an action," said the company in a rare midday regulatory filing.

Guess what happened after that little stunt?

You bet. The stock rocketed up from its lows and only finished down 3% for the day. That's certainly not a great close on an otherwise green day for stocks, but it's still enough to make the Woodman -- and us -- smile.

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