Then the trading frenzy begins. Although the PSE does not, in any way, look like Wall Street/NYSE during trading hours--in fact far from it--the excitement should still be there. (Imagine: the volumes being traded at the NYSE on a daily basis can easily be twice the size of our own GDP output for a year!) Funny thing is, I can always imagine greedy sharks in Wall Street to be like Maximus: they are in it to win a war--to outperform the market. To be one step ahead. To conquer. So at the top of my mind, I will try to recall some of the memorable "battlecries" in motion pictures and apply them to probably how traders see the stock market.
1. Mel Gibson as William Wallace in Braveheart (1995): "they may take our lives, but they'll never take our freedom!" This line is for those traders or fund managers who got burned badly that they resort to extreme measures. And by freedom they mean "freedom to fly."
2. Sam Worthington as Jake Sully in Avatar (2009): "The Sky People have sent us a message... that they can take whatever they want. That no one can stop them. Well, we will send them a message. You ride out as fast as the wind can carry you. You tell the other clans to come. Tell them Toruk Makto calls to them! You fly now, with me! My brothers! Sisters! And we will show the Sky People... that they can not take whatever they want! And that this... this is our land" This is for hotshot but delirious traders who aren't afraid of big guys taking profits while leaving them picking up the pieces. They always feel that the index is their very own "Eywa." They feel the connection. They know it's real. The problem is, Eywa also chooses sides. And the bigger you are, it's almost always: Eywa chooses you.
3. Gerald Butler as King Leonidas in 300 (2006): "Give them nothing, but take from them EVERYTHING!!!" Go figure. For greedy basterds. This is in lieu of my favorite Warren Buffett quote: "Be fearful when others are greedy. Be greedy when others are fearful." Enough said.
4. David Wenham as Dillios in 300 (2006): "Give thanks, men, to Leonidas and the brave 300! To Victory!!!!!!!!" Traders thanking everyone for a good job as the Dow Jones (or the PSEi) rose 300 points despite all odds.
5. Bill Pullman as President Thomas Whitmore in Independence Day (1996): "We will not go quietly into the night! We will not vanish without a fight! We're going to live on! We're going to survive! Because today, we will celebrate, our independence day!!!" I imagine this will be quite fitting for a Lehman Brothers-type trader to say during the second week of September 2008. His company just reported a net loss of $3.9bn. True enough, few days later he achieved freedom along with thousands of his colleagues as his company literally died.
6. Brad Pitt as Achilles in Troy (2004): "Immortality! Take it, it's yourssss!!!!" a trader/broker desperate to sell his plunging stock. Convincing others that the stock is cheap and they're in for some serious upsides. But in reality, it's trash.
7. Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn in Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003): "For Frodo!" This battlecry is clearly fit for a trader who burned some money he obviously didn't own but can't do anything about it except live and die another trading day. He slept for one night (assuming he got any) and then the next day had nothing in mind but to reclaim all the money he lost the day before... for his little friend Frodo. The question is, will Frodo ever trust him again? (this is lame and just plain bad blogging. haha)
Anyway, I couldn't think of anything more worth noting at the moment, but will update this post once something comes to mind.
In the end, it doesn't matter how you look at this. There will always be cheesy lines in hollywood movies, and it is really funny if we apply it in some situations. Happy trading guys! A-wooo a-wooo!!! This is SPARTAAAAAAAA!!!!! (I hope by this the trader doesn't mean we have to end up wearing diapers and red cloaks for dinner, sans the abs. That would be gross.)
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