I’ve seen the explanation for how the money for Winthorpe’s and Valentine’s scheme worked. The thing I’d been wondering about is: How did they get onto the exchange floor at all? Doesn’t someone need a badge from a company with a seat on the exchange in order to trade on the floor? Winthorpe wasn’t working for the Dukes anymore, and even though Valentine was still employed by the Dukes, why would they have given someone in the Philadelphia office have a floor trader badge for the New York exchange? The Dukes didn’t know he was coming to New York for the big OJ trading day.
Am I wrong about badges being necessary? Were the rules looser back in the early 80’s? Are/were there “independent” or “temporary” badges to be had for the right price/circumstance?
They have badges. You can see Eddie Murphy’s and the bottom part of Dan Akroyd in this still from the movie., and here’s a better one. Don’t know how they got them, though.
While we do allow comments that are of a less than serious nature in GQ, the rule is that you need to hold off until the factual aspects of the topic have been addressed before posting them. You’ve been around here long enough to know this. Did you forget you were in GQ?
No warning issued, but make sure you wait for the topic to be answered before adding comments like this.
Mod question: suppose buddha_david’s comment were worded as “it’s a movie, and I don’t think the writers put enough thought into that question.” Would that still fall under the note as a “fighting the hypothetical” type thing?
We can assume that Valentine had a valid trading badge and that Winthorpe either never had his taken away, or got a new one through Valentine.
As for why they’d have one at all, remember that the Dukes had a seat on the Exchange and that Winthorpe (later replaced by Valentine) had a really high position in the firm. It’s reasonable to guess that he would have a floor badge, even if he rarely ever used it.
I haven’t seen the movie in a long time. As I recall the floor trading strategy to destroy the Dukes was Winthorpe’s? He seemed like an experienced floor trader and it makes sense he would have a floor trader badge.
I imagine it wasn’t too difficult for Winthorpe to help Valentine get a badge.
I’m willing to assume that they used part of the money from the briefcase (and part of Coleman and Ophelia’s money) to, in effect, “buy” the equivalent of a day pass to the trading floor.
As phrased, the answer you pose is just idle speculation and IMO not particularly useful as a GQ answer. If you actually have some knowledge about the question (yes or no) then post it.
buddha_david’s answer however didn’t even rise to that level, and was just a rather pointless joke.
Can companies with seats on the exchange issue unlimited badges? I thought companies were granted a specific number of badges by the exchange, but maybe I’m wrong.
And if Billy Ray and Lewis had actually registered with the intent of buying and selling the contracts for themselves (rather than claiming they were still working for the Dukes) all they’d need is a simple Floor Trader badge and an individual membership in the Exchange.
I noticed in the pic linked to above that Valentine’s badge says “VAL” at the top of it, and Winthorpe’s says "WIN’.
Does everybody’s badge have the start of their name on it, or is that to indicate who they work for? I guess I’m asking if their names on their badges shed any light on the question of whether those badges were theirs through the Dukes company or as individuals.
But the movie was made about 30 years ago. I worked in the US for 12 years, and during that time accepted business dress in my line of work became decidedly more casual – fewer jackets and ties for the men. Couldn’t the dress standard on the floor of exchanges have changed over 30 years?
In both universes, there are groups of traders that wear matching jackets. I’m guessing it’s because in the tumult of open trading, exchanges don’t want to end up buying from and selling to themselves, so they outfit their traders in something distinctive.
Billy Ray was still working for the Dukes. They didn’t know that he was onto their bet. So I’m sure he could have arranged for badges through his position at Duke & Duke.
