Sponsored By . . .

"More bad times, brought to you by Van Kampen Investments."

Photo courtesy KEJ. When he sent it to me, I couldn't help but immediately appreciate the irony in a rain delay - or at least the tarp - being sponsored by an investment firm. Of all the things to sponsor, there's nothing like getting your brand in front of a bunch of cold, wet, frustrated baseball fans who probably saw their 401k or IRA value halved in the offseason and just want to forget the financial crisis for a day - Opening Day.

In fairness, the Van Kampen Equity Growth Fund was the best performing "diversified U.S. stock fund" last quarter, as it rose over 8%.

So if any investment companies actually have enough credibility to advertise, Van Kampen is probably among them. But I wouldn't have known that unless I looked it up.

Although, I looked it up, so maybe their ad just worked . . .