I'm filing this item under schadenfreude: That shameful feeling of joy we get at the failing and suffering of others, especially people we dislike intensity.

Trump Mortgage is closing its doors less than two years after it began. The venture got off to a rocky start when it turned out the man tapped to run it, E.J. Ridings, had inflated his credentials.

According to The New York Post:

Trump played down his role in Trump Mortgage, saying it was just a licensing deal and he didn't have an ownership stake.

Trump is, however, licensing his name to First Meridian Mortgage, a lender that is being renamed Trump Financial.

Of course, Trump was talking about that when Trump Mortgage was going to be the next big thing.

Perhaps The Donald should assign some of his interns to price out the value of Trump Entertainment Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ: TRMP). It seems, according to the Philadelphia Enquirer, that the company's asking price of $22 a share is double what the prospective buyer is willing to pay.

In an analysis that would deflate the ego of a lesser man, Bear Sterns Cos. Inc. recently placed a fair-market price of $11 on the stock, which is trading modestly above that level. Trump Entertainment Resorts, which owns casinos in Atlantic City, is thought to be very vulnerable to new gambling venues in development in New York and New Jersey. Earlier this month, CEO James Perry was forced out due to his lack of support for the rumored sale to Dennis Gomes and JEMB Realty Corp.

The disconnect between TER's expectations and the market's valuation of the company has a couple of troubling aspects. Given the sweet deal Harrah's Entertainment recently penned with Apollo Management and Texas Pacific Group, Trump's paltry valuation makes even more obvious its shortcoming. And since the company hired Merrill Lynch to help craft a deal, I have to wonder who is avoiding a reality check here.

Trump Entertainment is in a precarious position to turn down a legitimate offer, but the spread between the two positions could well prove as impenetrable as The Donald's coiffure.

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Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc. (NASDAQ:TRMP), the casino company fronted by the helmet-haired star of "The Apprentice," is up for sale.

Of course, those are not the words the company used. Reuters uses the diplomatic language of "weigh strategic options for financing, capital structure and other alternatives." Usually, the "alternatives" companies weigh involve avoiding getting its butt kicked by its competitors.

Trump hasn't been the King of Atlantic City for a long time. When I get the urge to gamble (my house is about 60 miles or so from Atlantic City), I hit the Borgota, or the Tropicana, anywhere but a Trump property which just aren't as nice.

Adding to the Donald's woes is the recent start of gambling in nearby Pennsylvania. Gamblers from the Philadelphia area don't have to travel far to play the slots and Atlantic City casinos now have to dole out more comps to keep their patrons happy.

Trump may sell all of its casinos or refinance them, according to media reports. My bet is that the banks aren't going to be interested in helping Trump the company out if Trump the businessman is involved at all. Trump may wind up being a brand mascot like Colonel Sanders. Still, I bet that larger casino operators will be interested in some if not all of Trump's properties that are being shopped by Merrill Lynch & Co. (NYSE:MER)

This places NBC in a bind. "The Apprentice" is predicated on the position that Trump is a huge sauces. Maybe the season of the program will feature the suck-ups -- I mean apprentices -- having a garage sale on the Atlantic City boardwalk. I would even tune in to watch.