a dollar gamble

Jerod 2022-03-23 09:01:40

This movie is older than me, but I still seem to think he's special today.
One is a young tramp begging along the street pretending to be a disabled veteran, the black Billy Ray Warren, and the other is a successful senior manager of a futures company, Louis Winthorpe III. He was taken to the police station. These are seen by two investors, betting on whether the environment can shape a person, so they use various means to exchange their identities...
If the story only reaches this bet, it may be normal, and the ending is still satisfactory Let’s punish evil and promote good, everyone gets what they need.
But it is indeed in this movie that I learned an important economic knowledge, "Whether the customer makes money or loses money, we all make money."

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Extended Reading

Trading Places quotes

  • Louis Winthorpe III: [after trading ends on FCOJ, he and Billy Ray are quickly finalizing up some last minute sales. Once they're finished, they both look up to see the cost at 29. They then look at one another and scream in celebration and hug. After they're finished, they see the Dukes looking at them] Happy New Year!

    Randolph Duke: [He drops their now-worthless sales papers on the floor]

    [hoarsely]

    Randolph Duke: Winthorpe.

    Mortimer Duke: [stunned] Valentine.

    Billy Ray Valentine: Hey! How'd y'all make out today?

    Mortimer Duke: How could you do this to us after everything we've done for you?

    Billy Ray Valentine: Oh, see, I made Louis a bet here. See, Louis bet me that we couldn't both get rich and put y'all in the poor house at the same time. He didn't think we could do it. I won.

    Louis Winthorpe III: [grinning] I lost.

    [Pulls it out of his breast pocket and shows it]

    Louis Winthorpe III: One dollar.

    Billy Ray Valentine: [Accepting it] Thank you, Louis.

    Louis Winthorpe III: After you.

    Billy Ray Valentine: Certainly.

    [They both leave with Billy Ray doing Eddie's "laugh" and Lewis giving the Dukes the Aykroyd "stare"]

  • Randolph Duke: Exactly why do you think the price of pork bellies is going to keep going down, William?

    Billy Ray Valentine: Okay. Pork belly prices have been dropping all morning, which means that everybody's waiting for it to hit rock bottom so they can buy cheap and go long. Which means that the people who own the pork belly contracts are goin' bat-shit. They're saying, "Hey, we're losing all our goddamn money, and Christmas is just around the corner, and I ain't gonna have no money to buy my son the G.I. Joe with the kung-fu grip, right? And my wife won't f... my wife won't make love to me 'cuz I ain't got no money, right?" So they're panicking right now, they're screaming "SELL! SELL!" to get out before the price keeps dropping. They're panicking out there right now! I can feel it! They out there!

    Randolph Duke: [on the ticker machine, the price keeps dropping] He's right, Mortimer! My God, look at it!

    Billy Ray Valentine: I'd wait until you get to around sixty-four, THEN I'd buy. You'll have cleared out all the suckers by then.

    Randolph Duke: This is Randolph Duke. Advise our clients interested in bellies to buy at sixty-four. Mr. Valentine has set the price.

    [He punches up the numbers on his calculator]

    Randolph Duke: Do you realize how much money he just saved us?

    Mortimer Duke: Money isn't everything, Randolph!