We discuss a lot of books on here with money knowledge —

But films are more rare.

That doesn’t mean you can’t learn anything though.

On today’s reel, Wall Street (1987).

Get in the car —

Gordon Geeko is teaching class today.

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This film is full of fast money and stock market pump and dumps

Classic insider trader moves and back restaurant deals.

But buried in there are actual real money and trading gems

I’ve pulled a few out just for you (because I like you, that’s why)

“I look at 100 deals a day, I chose one.”

When you first start investing, every deal looks good

You want to jump on every opportunity because to you everything looks like money.

It isn’t.

Learn to sift through the junk, and find the one.

This has saved me money.

“The most valuable commodity I know of is information.”

Information is the difference between making money and losing it.

It’s the thing that separates trading from gambling.

Do research.

Get to know what you’re investing in.

That’s how you make informed decisions.

“There are no short cuts. Quick buck artists come and go with every bull market, but the steady players make it through the bear markets.”

You learn to pick these guys out right away.

They sell tales of thousands of dollars a day.

They’re usually tales.

Work takes time.

“Money itself isn’t lost or made, it’s simply transferred, from one perception to another.”

@CJ_Johnson17th mentions this often — your rent and your car payment is another persons income.

Start thinking about money in this way and it completely switches your mindset.

“We’re all just one trade away from humility, bud.”

Invest long enough and you learn everyone is wrong sometimes.

The amateurs. The pros. The in betweeners.

The market makes a learner out of everyone.

Keep learning.

“Rich enough not to waste time.”

This is what we’re all after.

Money is sought after because it saves you time and discomfort.

Get rich so you can have time freedom.

It’s better than just being rich.

“The public is out there throwing darts at a board. I don’t throw darts at a board. I bet on sure things.”

Warren Buffet has a rule to never lose money.

This should be your rule too.

While it’s never guaranteed, you should do enough up front work so that it nearly is.

“I don’t like losses, sport. Nothing ruins my day more than losses.”

Your losses will teach you more lessons than your wins.

And it’s the pain of them that forces the learning.

Like I said, the market makes learners of all of us.

Maybe the films most important lesson, is buried in a discussion with Bud’s blue collar father at a bar:

“Money is just something you need in case you don’t die tomorrow.”

Remember, money is fun. Money is good. But it’s not everything.

There are bigger things in life.

Lastly —

“Greed is good.”

And it is.

Greed is the driver through which capitalism creates.

Our standard of living, our opportunity, and the American dream are all thanks to that five letter word: Greed.

This doesn’t mean be greedy.

But use it to your advantage.