# Trading Places: please explain the commodities trading scene at end **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 27, 2010, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trading-places-please-explain-the-commodities-trading-scene-at-end/565488 "2010-12-27T03:46:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trading-places-please-explain-the-commodities-trading-scene-at-end/565488/21 "2013-11-28T17:42:41Z")
I love NPR’s “Planet Money”, though I’m a couple of years behind in catching up on the podcasts. When I saw your description of the link, I didn’t even need to click on it to know it was them! ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trading-places-please-explain-the-commodities-trading-scene-at-end/565488/22 "2013-11-28T17:49:01Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > I’m mostly unclear on how Winthorp and Valentine got on the trading floor in the first place. Right, I doubt that the prostitute and the butler had enough in their piggy banks to buy a seat on the exchange. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trading-places-please-explain-the-commodities-trading-scene-at-end/565488/23 "2013-11-28T17:54:15Z")
It’s possible that Winthorp (and perhaps Valentine) still had access to the trading floor through Duke & Duke. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trading-places-please-explain-the-commodities-trading-scene-at-end/565488/24 "2013-11-28T18:11:26Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > It’s possible that Winthorp (and perhaps Valentine) still had access to the trading floor through Duke & Duke. But if that was the case, wouldn’t they be representing Duke and Duke? Can a trader walking onto the floor and buy and sell on their own? “OK, that buy was for the company and now I’m going to do the opposite for myself because I work for idiots.” I get the impression that a scene was written and never shot, or cut out for time, where one of the two convinces a friendly competitor to let them trade for the day. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trading-places-please-explain-the-commodities-trading-scene-at-end/565488/25 "2013-11-28T19:52:49Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > Agreed! I also had remembered reading what they did was technically not illegal. It was good to learn that was fixed. Gorilla pimping has to be against the law somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trading-places-please-explain-the-commodities-trading-scene-at-end/565488/26 "2013-11-28T22:22:08Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Gorilla pimping has to be against the law somewhere. I presume it is legal in Nevada. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2013, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trading-places-please-explain-the-commodities-trading-scene-at-end/565488/27 "2013-11-29T05:24:53Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > Right, I doubt that the prostitute and the butler had enough in their piggy banks to buy a seat on the exchange. Anything’s possible. You could, I dunno, be a minor player in a movie like this and end up, say, a U.S. senator: [Al Franken - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_franken) ---
**Author:** ![phungi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phungi/32/395_2.png) [@phungi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phungi)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2013, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trading-places-please-explain-the-commodities-trading-scene-at-end/565488/28 "2013-11-30T14:21:50Z")
All that was missing was a phone call saying “Blue Horseshoe Loves Frozen Concentrated Orange Juice” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trading-places-please-explain-the-commodities-trading-scene-at-end/565488.md?page=1)