[HN Gopher] What happens at the end of 'Trading Places'? (2013)
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       What happens at the end of 'Trading Places'? (2013)
        
       Author : austinallegro
       Score  : 60 points
       Date   : 2025-04-24 20:11 UTC (5 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.npr.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.npr.org)
        
       | gibbitz wrote:
       | https://youtu.be/9wSQ9Zk_9gQ?si=LIymSh4sGl2jehYo great video on
       | orange juice concentrate futures
        
       | allenrb wrote:
       | I've worked in trading for some time now (on the tech nerd side)
       | and can still remember my jaw dropping when I learned that FCOJ
       | is actually traded and wasn't made up for the movie.
        
         | toomuchtodo wrote:
         | My father was a trader on the floor of the CME in Chicago for a
         | short bit (mid to late 90s), and Trading Places was provided as
         | required reading before he taught me how to trade commodities.
         | Great film. I have the VHS copy somewhere for sentimental
         | reasons.
         | 
         | Why you can't trade onions futures is also a fun read, for
         | similar reasons ("The Great Onion Corner").
         | 
         | https://www.npr.org/2015/10/22/450769853/the-great-onion-cor...
         | 
         | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_Kosuga
         | 
         | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onion_Futures_Act
        
           | smallmouth wrote:
           | There's a good chance I knew your father if he was active
           | between 89' and 97'. Leased and eventually bought a seat and
           | cleared through RJO.
           | 
           | Mostly S&P 500, Pound Sterling and Live Cattle.
           | 
           | And thanks for those links!
        
           | konfusinomicon wrote:
           | as the last of the short orders were filed Kosuga leaned over
           | to Siegel and whispered, "now we'll really give em something
           | to cry about", and the rest is history
        
           | richardfontana wrote:
           | When I was in law school I took a class on securities
           | regulation taught by Joel Seligman, and I remember looking at
           | his multi-volume treatise which included a letter Gerald Ford
           | sent him reminiscing about the Onion Futures Act.
        
       | nicwolff wrote:
       | That's funny, that in 2010 the Commodity Futures Trading
       | Commission specifically banned the insider trade that bankrupted
       | the Duke Brothers at the end of Trading Places!
       | 
       | Here's a direct link to the testimony mentioned in the Wall
       | Street Journal:
       | 
       | https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/SpeechesTestimony/opagensler-...
        
         | mikestew wrote:
         | Referenced in the doc as "the Eddie Murphy rule".
        
         | listenallyall wrote:
         | Even if the trading itself wasn't illegal, it had to be illegal
         | to steal a government economic data report prior to its
         | release, right? I mean, if you stole the monthly Non-Farm
         | Payroll report and knew its contents ahead of its release, you
         | could easily make millions of dollars. There is a reason it is
         | released at a specific, scheduled time.
        
           | IAmBroom wrote:
           | "Should be" != "had to be".
        
           | JackFr wrote:
           | https://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/13/business/economist-
           | pleads...
           | 
           | And disgorge your profits, pay a fine, go to jail and agree
           | never to work in the securities industry ever again.
        
       | kccqzy wrote:
       | What's missing from this explanation is how open outcry trading
       | works. If the "sell 30 April at 142" instruction is barely heard
       | correctly, how would other traders be sure of what they heard and
       | react accordingly? It seems like a messy trading environment
       | where mistakes could easily be made. What do they do to prevent
       | these mistakes and to prevent traders from reneging on the
       | trades? Do they have a ticker tape? Do they have employees who
       | would record all transactions on the ticker tape? How do they go
       | from verbal instructions to a verified record?
       | 
       | Amazing movie though. I just wish I had more context to
       | understand the scene fully.
        
         | joezydeco wrote:
         | There was a system of hand signals to back up the
         | communication. The movie didn't really show that.
         | 
         | Here's how they did it in Chicago at the Commodities Exchange:
         | 
         | https://youtu.be/yd31eEEWOoc
        
           | wildzzz wrote:
           | One of my favorite scenes in Ferris Bueller
        
         | vergeman wrote:
         | I attempted a little webcam machine learning video game to
         | trade open outcry.
         | 
         | Can't say it works that well but I claim side project lol.
         | 
         | https://www.thepittrader.com/
        
       | Braxton1980 wrote:
       | Prince Akeem was upset that Arsenio Hall was using the royal
       | family's money when they were supposed to be living like
       | commoners. Out of anger he took a large wad of cash that Arsenio
       | had on him and gave it to two homeless people who turned out to
       | be the Duke brothers.
        
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