Three Best Stock Markets and Wall Street Movies All Investors Should Watch

Filmmakers have been making films about finance for years. Like “trading locations,” some people have comically portrayed the mayhem of the trade bed. Others, like “The Wizard of Lies,” are calming expressions of actual events.

These films are fun to watch, but few people include practical advice on how to track investors leave the theatre. However, there are some notable exceptions. A single film cannot fully educate beginners about stock market details, but some contain some pointers worthy for those who want to invade the world of finance.

(Of course, if you are looking for actual financial advice related to your particular situation, we recommend consulting with your financial advisor.)

This is the top pick of stock markets and Wall Street movies that all investors should watch. Each one spans the line between education and entertainment, and neither does it skip.

“Wall Street” may seem like an obvious choice when it comes to films about the stock market. More than 35 years after its release, it still gives viewers things to think after the credits are rolled. The story follows Bud Fox (played by Charlie Sheen), a young stockbroker who works for morally questionable Wall Street trader Gordon Gecko (played by Michael Douglas). The film is best known for Gekko’s famous speech. There they say, “greed is good.”

The character in the scene climbs the ladder of success after illegally sharing tips with gekko to curry favors. It works for a while, but he inevitably violates the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and is eventually arrested for insider trading.

While that may seem obvious, it would be wise for investors to pay attention to film lessons for people in the financial sector. It may put you in a financial position that is favorable in the short term, but the law will inevitably catch up with you.

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“The Wolf on Wall Street” is notable for several reasons, especially that it is based on a true story. This portrayal of real-life stockbroker Jordan Belfort is based on a 2007 memoir of the same name. The film follows the rise from innocent young traders in Belfort to predatory con artists.

Directed by Martin Scorsese, the film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Belfort. Among the crimes, he uses a pump-and-dump scheme is illegal advertising that promotes unconscious investors illegally overvalued stocks in order to artificially “pump” the stock price. It is a type of securities fraud that includes. This activity ultimately sacrifices his freedom to Belfort.

The story continues

The film takes place in the 1980s and 1990s, but investors can apply lessons to today’s investments, especially when it comes to cryptocurrencies. In 2023, Blockchain Data Platform Chain Orisis published a survey that found 24% of new tokens launched the previous year shared similarities with the pump and dump scheme. These tokens were sold at a higher price by their creators, with some of them losing 90%.

For cryptocurrency investors in particular, “Wall Street Wolves” serve as a powerful reminder to do due diligence before making an investment.

The 2008 financial crisis did not occur overnight. Rather, it was the culmination of a series of factors. Details of what led to the financial crisis are detailed in the 2010 book, The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine. This was adopted in the film in 2015. Real-life hedge fund manager Michael Burry (played by Christian Bale), one of the first to realize that many US homeowners got their homes through subprime mortgages and created a housing bubble.

If you don’t know some of the terms used to explain the causes of a housing bubble, don’t worry. The film uses celebrities to explain concepts and terms such as mortgage-backed securities. Stars like Anthony Bourdain, Margot Robbie and Selena Gomez break the fourth wall across the film and talk to viewers in financial jargon.

Of course, if you are an experienced investor, you probably understand the dangers of subprime mortgages. But if you’re a beginner and still want to understand all the factors that sparked the 2008 financial crisis, “big short” makes it easy to grasp the complex issues that most people have seen coming You can do it.

If you plan to pursue a career in finance, there is no substitute for actual education. However, some films can give investors wisdom. At the very least, it serves as a reminder of some of the big mistakes to avoid. Do your due diligence and learn about finance from reliable sources, but if film helps you understand that it’s better than what you’ve learned in business school, that works too.