5 Best Stock Market Movies And Where To Stream Them
It seems the best stock market movies focus on the negatives, depicting scrupulous characters chasing the big bucks.
However, many of these movies show life either at the top or in the 80s and 90s. Today’s remote almost broker-free existence has less obvious bad guys. So while you’re investing from the comfort of your home, these are the movies to watch to get that feeling of Wall Street’s “greed is good.”
CHECK OUT: 5 low risk investment opportunities available today.
1. Wall Street – Available to rent on Apple or Google for $2.99, or buy for $5.99
Michael Douglas stars as Gordon Gekko, the iconic “greed is good” character from Oliver Stone’s classic Wall Street. Stanley Weiser, co-author of the movie’s screenplay said that Gekko was based on real-life traders Carl Icahn, Iven Boesky, and Michael Ovitz.
The movie is about Charlie Sheen’s Bud Fox who is desperate to impress big fish Gekko. Once given an opportunity, he’ll do anything to stay in the fast lane, even insider trading. To this day, people still quote the movie lines, including “Blue Horseshoe loves Anacott Steel.”
Despite being more than 30-years-old, Wall Street remains a fantastic movie and one every budding investor should watch. IMDb gives Wall Street a rating of 7.4 from 140k votes.
2. The Big Short – Hoopla and PlutoTV
Based on the non-fiction book by Michael Lewis, The Big Short is focused on the 2007-2008 housing bubble. Where a group of traders predict and bet on the collapse, while the rest of the financial sector is in denial. Starring Christian Bale, Steve Carrell, and a host of other big names, this movie is not-to-be-missed.
One of the best aspects of the movie is that it does a fantastic job of explaining what’s going on rather than glossing over the technical aspects. With Selena Gomez and Margot Robbie explaining synthetic CDOs and mortgage-backed bonds respectively in scenes that educate as much as entertain.
IMDb gives The Big Short a rating of 7.8 from 350k votes.
3. The Wolf of Wall Street – SlingTV
This Martin Scorsese biopic about Jordan Belfort, an infamous stock market scammer whose smooth-talking ways of pumping and dumping stock left him in prison for 22-months from 1999.
The movie stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, and Margot Robbie. Each giving a masterclass performance in what is one of the most graphic and intriguing stock market movies ever.
In the movie you’ll get to see how Belfort’s company Stratton Oakmont was formed on over-the-top salesmanship, and how they scammed the market with an Initial Public Offerings for Steve Madden’s Shoes.
IMDb gives The Wolf of Wall Street a rating of 8.2 from 1.1-million votes.
CHECK OUT: The 5 signs experts look out for to see if the stock market is about to crash.
4. Margin Call – Amazon Prime TV and Hulu
If you’re looking for drama with accuracy, Margin Call is the best stock market movie available. It focuses on a fictional company’s realization that the market is crashing, and their actions as they try to mitigate and survive the disaster.
The crash in the movie is based upon the 2008 financial crisis and is a damning look at the recklessness and self-interest of large firms. At no point does the story hideaway from the technicalities, even making a point of showcasing how the complexity of the financial market’s jargon is beyond the comprehension of most people.
Thought provoking, bleak, and starring Zachary Quinto, Stanley Tucci, and Kevin Spacey. IMDb gives Margin Call a rating of 7.1 from 100k votes.
5. Trading Places – SlingTV
Trading Places is a comedy based around the commodities market. Starring Eddie Murphy as Billy Ray Valentine, a streetwise con-artist who gets dragged into an experiment by the wealthy Randolph and Mortimer Duke. This experiment swaps the lives of Louis Winthorpe III (Dan Aykroyd) and Billy Ray around, leaving them, and Jamie Lee Curtis seeking revenge.
Looking beyond the comedy, Trading Places is a movie that shows the highs and lows of America’s class structure. Putting the transition of poor-to-rich and vice-versa on a pedestal.
The climax of the movie features a frenzied stock market sequence that’s both comical and accurate for the 80s. The movie was released in 1983 and is a fantastic watch. It deserves to be higher on this list but as the stock market mostly takes a back seat, it only ranks #5 on our best stock market movies list.
IMDb gives Trading Places a rating of 7.5 from 130k votes.
CHECK OUT: Amazing stock market simulator games perfect for training.