Quote from Maverick74:
Cutten, if you think the original Wall Street was at all any way accurate you obviously never spent a day on the street. The reason the original had such a cult following was because Gekko became a larger then life figure for every wannabe trader in the world. If you had any idea about this business you would know that 90% of the money made in the 80's was not trading stock but trading bonds. Whether it be Merriwether at Solly or the building of the junk bond empire at Drexel with Milken. Only at home traders fantasize about a guy in a corner office selling NASA stock short 3 minutes after the Challenger blew up and making billions. Of course that was fictional but it makes my point completely. The money made in this business is not in flipping stock but the original movie created that idea. This is why guys get such a hard on for the original.
Stock broker era exploded in the 1980s, which was a way in for hungry young guys, many of which did not even have a college degree. Bud Foxx, up for a point, illustrates that. While Solomon Brothers was famous for hiring guys straight off the street for their bond trading, in general, that was not the case.
The debt market overshadows the equity market, but when in comes to the masses, it's all about stocks. The movie would not have been as good focusing on junk bonds, for that you can just view a documentary on Milken.
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