Explain commodities with Eddie Murphy’s help

The movie Trading Places is one of the most beloved financial comedies of the last 30 years — so much that it spawned real-life commodities reform in 2010.

Read: How to read the commodities market

The classic, which stars Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd, was the basis for the “Eddie Murphy Rule,” or Section 136 of the Wall Street Transparency and Accountability Act of Dodd-Frank, which deals with insider trading. In the movie, a pair of commodities brokers tried to use a stolen crop report to corner the frozen concentrated orange juice futures market.

Read: Rising commodities benefit Canada: Carney

A recent episode of NPR’s Planet Money podcast explains what’s accurate in the movie — most of it — and in doing so, provides an entertaining and humorous look at commodity futures trading. If your clients are interested in how commodities markets work (and they don’t have two hours to watch the original movie), suggest they listen to the podcast here.

Read: Wealthy clients want commodities, real estate

Staff

The staff of Advisor.ca have been covering news for financial advisors since 1998.