Wall Street - The Movie

Wall Street is one of the few timeless movies out there. I can watch it over and over again; it just never goes stale.

Will Durant says the best art is "impregnated with philosophy" and therein lies the beauty of this movie. The one liners, witticisms, and maxims from Gordon Ghekko and cohorts are still regurgitated 20 years later everyday on trading floors across the world. (link)

How many yachts can you waterski behind?

Don't get emotional about stock prices.

Greed is good.

The main thing about money, Bud, is that it makes you do things you don't want to do.

Kid, you're on a roll. Enjoy it while it lasts, 'cause it never does.

We're all just one trade away from humility.

A fool and his money are lucky enough to get together in the first place.

Blue Horseshoe loves...

Jesus, if this guy owned a funeral parlor nobody would die!



Incidentally, about ten years ago, one of the traders in my pit got several others to pile into some dogsh*t penny stock. They bought it and bought it cheaper...and then bought it some more. It went to zero. The company was in the funeral/casket business and its management actually ascribed its bankruptcy to "declining deaths". See what I mean about this movie's truisms?

After viewing the movie for the umpteenth time this weekend, here's the quote I want to highlight today.

When upstart Bud Fox finally makes some dough, and while speechlessly considering buying a new highrise condo the real estate agent nudges him with:

"You know, my husband can get you a 10% mortgage..."

Ten percent?!?!?!? How is that a deal?

Wait until you see the panic when today's 6% rates lurch up a point to 7%.

If mortgage rates can rise 40% to an average of 10%...well, yes, that means your house can minimally depreciate 40% from today's "value".



What a terrific movie. Make sure you watch the youtube trailer I posted at the top - yes, luddites, that is not a weird picture emblazoned with a play button.

You'll no sooner find a trader who hasn't seen this movie than you'll find a South Philly Italian who's never heard of Rocky Balboa.

I was thinking they need to do another high-powered Wall Street type of movie. Then I remembered that Hollywood already tried a followup - Boiler Room. Watch the trailer below.



I remember seeing it in Brooklyn with my future wife back when it came out. We didn't think it was that bad - despite the false caricature it painted Wall Street as. Actually, I thought that fruitcake Ben Affleck was phenomenal in Boiler Room. Why couldn't he just stick to manly movie roles?

Alas, the movie was a far cry from Oliver Stone's original masterpiece.