Top 10 best stock market movies and how to watch them free [Update 2021]

[Update: 2020 is definitely coming down as one of the most, if not the most eventful year of the decade. As we conclude 2020, let’s hope that 2021 will be a better and more prosperous year for all of us. In the grand spirit of “sharing is caring”, I look to introduce the 10 best stock market movies and finance movies of all time and how you can actually watch them for FREE using a simple app for all android users]

COVID-19 has kept us “locked up” for almost a year now and the recent virus resurgence could portend harsher lockdown measures being implemented despite various vaccine solutions currently being administered to the public in developed nations. It will likely be months before the general public can get vaccinated and it is still uncertain if these vaccine solutions can completely eradicate COVID-19. We can only pray that life will be better in 2021.

In this article which is more light-hearted compared to my previous write-ups, I will talk about 10 stock market movies, a couple of which are oldies which I have the luxury to watch in 2020 as a result of the lockdown, all for free by downloading an app on my android phone (I am not sure if it is available on iPhones).

I hope I don’t convey the illusion that I support piracy over here. Nothing beats watching movies on the big screen so if you are one of those who enjoys the movie-going experience, please continue to do so. Movie theatres might be made “irrelevant” pretty soon in the era of “content streaming”.

The main downside to the app, as with most, are the advertisements that it will bombard you at the start of each movie or TV series. Beyond that, the quality of the shows is excellent. The app not only allows you to watch some of the latest movies (Wonder Woman, anyone?) but popular TV series as well (think exclusive series from Netflix, Apple TV, Disney+).

For those who are strongly against such “pirated” content, do ignore the next statement. The app in question is called “MoviePro”. Again, download it at your own risk if you are desperate for some big picture entertainment. For those who have already subscribed to streaming channels, please continue to do so.

The 10 best stock market movies and finance movies below are all available to be stream from the app. Starting from the oldest to the earliest:

1. Wall Street (1987)
2. Boiler Room (2000)
3. Wall Street: Money Never Sleep (2010)
4. Inside Job (2010)
5. Margin Call (2011)
6. The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
7. The Big Short (2015)
8. Betting on Zero (2016)
9. Banking on Bitcoin (2017)
10. The China Hustle (2017)

Best Stock Market Movies #1: Wall Street (1987)

Won: 1 Oscar + 9 Other Awards           

One of the oldest stock market classic featuring Michael Douglas as the infamous Gordan Gekko, this Oliver Stone’s academy award-winning blockbuster epitomizes the roaring 80’s stock market of corporate raiders and insider trading. Stone made the film as a tribute to his father, Lou Stone, a stockbroker during the Great Depression.

Gordan Gekko, the household iconic name that all traders during that era would be aware of, coined the mantra ‘Greed, for the lack of a better word, is good”. It is no surprise that Michael Douglas subsequently won the Academy Award for Best Actor,

Charlie Sheen also star as a junior broker called Bud Fox who believes that he has gotten his career breakthrough when he caught the eyes of Gordon Gekko by being persistent in his job. I will not be revealing too much for those who are interested to catch this oldie which is well worth the 2 hours of screen time.

Stone and Douglas reunited for a sequel titled Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010) which stars Shia LaBeouf.

Lesson learned: Don’t trade on inside information. You never know if Big Brother is monitoring your every move.

Best Stock Market Movies #2: Boiler Room (2000)

Won: 1 Award + 9 Nominations

Ever heard of the term “Pump and Dump”? The film gave an insight into what went on in a brokerage house sales department, actions that might still be going around today, albeit a tamer version.

Brokers were hired to create artificial demand in the stock of fake companies or penny stocks. This is the “pumping” action. When the firm is done pumping the stock, now at a dizzying price, they sell these worthless stocks to unsuspecting retail investors, people who have no knowledge of what stocks they are buying into but lured in by the promises of quick riches which can allow them to pay their mortgage loans in full.

One tends to get “inspired” by all these sales talks and I wonder if brokerage sales are still using such selling techniques to get their retail clients excited.

Boiler Room in a sense is quite similar to another firm in this list, The Wolf of Wall Street.

You might not know but this is one of Vin Diesel’s earliest movie before his fame sky-rockets from the fast and furious franchise.

Lesson learned: Don’t believe your broker when he sells you the next Amazon. Especially here in sunny Singapore. The likelihood of a Singapore listed penny stock becoming the next trillion-dollar mega-corporation is ZERO, in my humble opinion.

Best Stock Market Movies #3: Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010)

This is the sequel to the hit movie: Wall Street (1987). The film takes place in New York City, 23 years after the original, and revolves around the 2008 financial crisis. Its plot centers on a supposedly reformed Gordon Gekko, played by Douglas, and follows his attempts to repair his relationship with his daughter Winnie (Mulligan), with the help of her fiancé, Jacob Moore (LaBeouf).

Just like its title, it is true that Money Never Sleeps. It can be working for you or against you. While you go to bed every night, your money is working either for you in an investment or against you on a loan earning interest or some kind of return.

If you don’t understand the investment–be it a stock, bond, mutual fund, commodity, etc.–you should study up on it and know exactly what your money is funding or not invest in it at all. The internet is loaded with free investment tools for this purpose.

Lesson learned: Money is a never sleeping tool that can bring you financial comfort if you are a Master to it or endless nightmares if you are a Slave to it.

Best Finance Movies #4: Inside Job (2010)

Inside Job, the critically acclaimed movie by Academy Award-nominated filmmaker, Charles Ferguson, is the definitive film about the economic crisis of 2008 and the role of Wall Street in modern society.

Charles Ferguson’s film attempts to blame a wider cast list for the banking crash of 2008 and explains why so little has been done to reform the financial world or bring criminal prosecutions against the main protagonists.

His villainous lineup includes bankers, politicians (many of whom were previously bankers), regulators, the credit ratings agencies and academics.

The film’s underlying theme is that the problem was a lack of or decline in financial regulation, and if deregulation had not taken place, the current crisis would never have happened. It follows that the obvious solution is for the government to re-regulate the economy.

Lesson learned: Never trust your bankers.

Best Stock Market Movies #5: Margin Call (2011)

Won: 8 Awards + 1 Oscar Nomination

Quite a number of high-profile actors/actresses such as Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany and Demi Moore.

The story takes place over a 24-hour period at a large Wall Street Investment bank during the initial stages of the financial crisis of 2007-08. How a “rocket scientist” turn risk analyst discovers that his firm’s portfolio of mortgage-backed securities is so highly leveraged that it risks bankrupting the entire firm, literally overnight.

This film gives us insights into how fragile our financial system was and maybe still is due to excessive leverage and how close we can come to a complete financial Armageddon amid the shock waves of fear in the market, something one might be able to relate back in March when every single asset class was sold off to be in the comfort of cash.

The ending of the film provides some food for thought. We often hear of employees putting their own interests ahead of their employers. Would you do the opposite if it meant permanent destruction to your own career in the industry?

Lesson learned: Excessive leverage kills.

Best Stock Market Movies #6: The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

Won: 38 Awards + 5 Oscar Nominations

I am sure every finance fanatic would have watched The Wolf of Wall Street at least once or seen short clips of Leonardo Di Caprio selling penny stocks to unsuspecting retail investors while making a mockery of them in the process.

This film is based on the memoir of Jordan Belfort, recounting his perspective as a stockbroker who was so good at selling stocks that he managed to open his own firm, Stratton Oakmont which engaged in rampant corruption and fraud, often involving IPOs on Wall Street.

Leonardo Di Caprio did a fantastic job, starring as Belfort, charismatically showcasing the excesses of Belfort in his rise from a nobody to become one of Wall Street’s biggest hotshot with personal jets, mansions and a whole lot of drugs.      

Lesson Learned: Avoid IPOs. Most of Belfort’s scams involved fraudulent IPOs and “Pump and Dump” schemes. Stick to blue-chip stocks if you are not familiar with the stock market. Yes, they might not make you super-wealthy, but they sure ain’t gonna disappear overnight.  

Best Stock Market Movies #7: The Big Short (2015)  

Won: 1 Oscar + 37 wins + 79 nominations

Another epic film, the story revolves around the few men who bet big against the investment banks going into the 2007 financial crisis.

It brings to life the failure of investment banks to even understand the risks revolving around the products (mortgage back securities again) that they created to make an insane amount of profits. The film is noted for the unconventional techniques it employs to explain financial instruments such as sub-prime mortgages and collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) etc.

The film has a stellar cast such as Christian Bale, Steve Carrell, Ryan Gosling, and Brad Pitt which portrays the film four central characters.

At the end of the day, the banks responsible for the crisis were mostly bailed out by the US government except for a few unlucky souls like Lehman and Bear Stearns.

Lessons Learned: A bubble created from financial leverage could take a long time to burst but when they do, the consequences are usually severe. We enter into the COVID-19 shock with unprecedented levels of financial leverage as a result of a decade-long environment of low-interest rate.

Nonetheless, as long as the music continues to play, the majority of the people will continue to dance along with it. Can you stop dancing like Warren Buffett?

Best Finance Movies #8: Betting on Zero (2016)

Betting on Zero is a 2016 American documentary directed by Ted Braun. It investigates the allegation that Herbalife is a pyramid scheme, and follows Bill Ackman’s short investment in Herbalife, which is ostensibly a billion-dollar bet that the company will soon collapse.

Well, Herbalife is still around at this juncture, so does that mean that Bill Ackman is absolutely wrong with his short thesis? There are probably still many Bill Ackman supporters, considering the huge amount of return he has made from shorting the market in 2020 prior to the peak of the COVID-19 crisis. He also made the news by setting up the largest SPAC in 2020, raising US$4bn for the “shell” company.

The biggest takeaway from “Betting on Zero” is the overriding, overarching power of messaging. As long as a company or a political candidate or a new friend with a business opportunity is able to whip up enough supporters into a frenzy, sometimes that’s all that’s needed to sustain a firm grasp on the levers of control.

Lesson Learned: Ponzis (and I am not saying that Herbalife is one) can stay solvent for a long time. It might not be wise to bet against it if you do not have the staying power.

Best Finance Movies #9: Banking on Bitcoin (2017)

Bitcoin is the most disruptive invention since the Internet, and now an ideological battle is underway between fringe utopists and mainstream capitalism. The film shows the players who are defining how this technology will shape our lives.

It might be interesting to revisit this finance movie, considering that Bitcoin is currently at a “mind-boggling” level of US$29k/coin.

Is the current strength in its price justifiable or are we going to see a repeat of what happened back in 2017/18 where its price collapsed as swiftly as its ascent?

Additional Reading: Bitcoin Prediction: 5 reasons why its rise this time round might be sustainable

Lesson learned: In the era of easy money where governments are printing money “left, right, and center” without consequences (for now), digital currency might one day become the only currency “left standing”. Is Warren Buffett going to become a convert as well?

Best Finance Movies #10: The China Hustle (2017)

The China Hustle is a 2017 finance documentary produced by Magnolia Pictures and directed by Jed Rothstein. The documentary reveals systematic and formulaic decades-long securities fraud by Chinese companies listed on the US stock market.

The documentary investigates the collusion that occurred from 2008 to 2016 between second and third-tier US-based Wall Street investment firms such as Roth Capital Partners and small companies based in China.

Most of the companies featured in the film were listed in NYSE through reverse mergers. The film reveals that actual revenues of Chinese firms (reflected in their filings with Chinese government entities) were typically one-tenth of what was filed with the SEC. Subsequent to investigations, most of the firms were de-listed from the NYSE resulting in losses of billions to US investors.

Sound pretty familiar to the latest “fad” happening on Wall Street in 2020: SPACs. i have written about it in this article: How to invest in SPAC like a Venture Capitalist.

Lesson learned: Stick with the traditional blue-chip stocks if you cannot afford to lose ALL your capital. Investing in IPOs and SPACs might bring “quick riches” but one should be prepared to “lose it all” in these highly risky investments.

Do check out these lists of best stock market movies and best finance movies when you have got the time. For all the finance fanatics, I hope you enjoy this list of best stock market movies and best finance movies.  

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Disclosure: The accuracy of the material found in this article cannot be guaranteed. Past performance is not an assurance of future results. This article is not to be construed as a recommendation to Buy or Sell any shares or derivative products and is solely for reference only.