The Five Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Week

Fiorina's Soft Landing She's in good company

1. Baby, You Can Drive My Carly

This week, Carly Fiorina demonstrated how far women have progressed in the executive suite.

They've gotten so far, she taught us, that they're just as likely as men to be rewarded for their incompetence.

Fiorina, of course, lost her job as chairman and CEO of Hewlett-Packard (HPQ Quote) Wednesday, amid growing dissatisfaction with her performance. H-P's stock is worth about half of what it was when Fiorina took control of the tech giant in 1999. Not only that, but the company's 2002 merger with Compaq -- a deal that Fiorina championed in a close and bitter proxy contest -- has failed to live up to Fiorina's promises for it.

But though Fiorina is no doubt bummed about being fired, the company did ease the pain for her. The departing executive will receive a severance package, according to press reports, worth $21 million.

Yes. Just like her male counterparts at other flailing giants, Fiorina was able to receive an outrageously generous severance package despite a job performance that was mediocre at best.

You've come a long way, baby.

2. The Good Times at the NYSE? They're Langone.

The New York Stock Exchange's scandalous overpayment of former CEO Dick Grasso claimed another victim this week: Wall Street elder statesman Kenneth Langone, who is resigning from General Electric's (GE Quote) board, it was revealed Tuesday, to defend his role in the matter.

We're not surprised. ...