Last post two years ago, but inclusion of movies like
Space Cowboy (no cows or horses or western theme) should give me some latitude to include my all-time favorite movie -
Trading Places.
Dan Aykroyd,
Eddie Murphy,
Ralph Bellamy,
Don Ameche,
Denholm Elliott, and
Jamie Lee Curtis.
The movie is about stock future manipulation.
The bad guys, the Duke Brothers (
Bellamy &
Ameche), conceal a commodity forecast report that predicts a normal expected orange harvest and buy up orange juice futures creating inflated prices, expecting to reap a $ big harvest, selling at big $ later.
The good guys, Valentine (Murphy) & Winthorpe (
Aykroyd) buy up the inflated shares from investors, planning short sell shares later. The orange harvest is normal and (supply & demand) prices are low, and shares are paid back at much lower prices, enabling big profits for Valentine & Winthorpe.
The bad guys, Duke Brothers lose- they are obligated to comply with their future orders.
Real events.
A relative by marriage establishes a corporation that during its 5-year long history never sells a product. The company's stock undergoes moderate value up-downs, each time promising investors of big gain upon final product approval by a certain Federal Agency. Finally, the company's newsletter announces the final product approval by the Federal Agency is about to happen, which causes stock prices to make a 10% jump. Soon after, when the Federal Agency finds the product of no value (unable to market) the company's stock values crash by 88%, the biggest % crash in NASDAC history. Lots of $ made by selling short over past 5 years followed by a big, short sale killing at the end.
The movie shows folks from all walks of life have the potential to be good people, including servants, street hustlers, well born, & hookers. I am happy to say that I got my mom to sell all her shares upon reading the newsletter.
I like to watch the movie (DVD) on hot summer days & drink beers.