I'm frequently asked in the comments section of my videos and by the university students

that I teach, how realistic are some of the most popular Wall Street films.

I've worked as a trader for over 20 years, starting in the late 90s, at some of the biggest

investment banks and hedge funds, and I spent about half of my career in the United States,

and half in London. On top of

that, most of my friends either work for or still work for some of the top Wall Street

firms in areas like investment banking, trading and securities analysis. So I know what it's like to

work in the industry. I also know how it's changed over the years

and I've heard a lot of stories. A friend of mine who doesn't work in finance put together

a playlist for me of some of the most famous scenes from some of the biggest Wall Street

films so that I can react to them. So first up we have The Wolf of Wall Street, which is a really

fun film to watch, but I would argue that the title is a little bit misleading, as it wasn't

a real Wall Street firm. It was a penny stock brokerage running a pump and dump scheme,

and the firm it's based on, Stratton Oakmont, was located in a strip mall in New Hyde Park,

Long Island, which according to Google Maps is a solid two-hour commute from Wall Street during rush hour.

I guess the wolf of a really bad commute to Wall Street wasn't a punchy title, so they called

the film The Wolf of Wall Street instead.

I don't want to seem pedantic, but there are no actual wolves in the film either.

In many ways, the title of the film is as much of a fraud as the guy that it was based on.

There are lots of crazy scenes in the film, as it's about a guy who ran penny stock scams and pleaded

guilty to fraud and other related crimes, spent 22 months in prison, and only paid

back $10 million of the $110 million he was supposed to return to the victims of his

...