The Five Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Week

1. Three Cheers for ... Charles Wang?

Dumbest kudos to the drones who gave chairman and founder Charles Wang a standing ovation at the annual meeting of Computer Associates(CA Quote) Wednesday. Wang got another partial ovation when he announced that the company had defeated the proxy bid launched by dissident shareholder Sam Wyly. (Welcome, new members of the Stockholm Syndrome club. The muggings will commence after your complimentary breakfast.)

Wang and Chief Executive Sanjay Kumar faced hardly any criticism during the Q&A portion of the meeting. Many used the opportunity to thank management and ramble incoherently.

Remember, Wang's the same guy who backed a compensation package in stock then valued at $1.1 billion for a three-person management team -- including himself -- in 1998. He also helped lead the company as it caught flak for its accounting practices and consistently underperformed its peers. In the five-year period since 1996, the stock has declined 9% -- the S&P 500 rose 75% in that time frame.

Granted, Wyly, who sought to unseat Wang and install his own four-member board of directors, isn't perfect: There's been criticism about governance practices at some of the companies he's run. But that shouldn't obscure the larger issue: Management at Computer Associates has acted with hubris for too long, failing to respond to legitimate shareholder worries. Wang deserves something, but it certainly isn't applause.

2. FreeMarkets: From $14 to $90

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