Dan Aykroyd Explains the End of `Trading Places'

August 6 (Bloomberg) -- Bloomberg Businessweek corners legendary actor, comedian and entrepreneur Dan Aykroyd to find out why "Trading Places" is the greatest business movie of all time. (Source: Bloomberg)

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[GGGritzer]

Dan Aykroyd stole the show. Now, every part was immaculate casting, but Dan was truly outstanding!

[johnlozauskas]

I love how Eddie worked with Ralph Bellamy and Don Ameche in Coming to America. It was a lovely homage.

[idt]

Arguably one of the best comedy and revenge movies ever made. And Jamie Lee Curtis topless makes it even better.

[economath]

I love how the Duke brothers are the two homeless guys that Akeem gives the bag of cash to in Coming to America...

[livinginvancouverbc]

I was hoping he'd explain why the men were all wearing sweaters in the tropics. 

[FMHammyJ]

Still one of Eddie Murphy's exchange student Denke Mboko from Cameroon still cracks me up

[barbaraalexander]

Dan didn't quite explain the trading correctly when he said that a "short" was underway. He meant that the Dukes believed that a "shortage" of orange juice was underway because they received bogus "inside" information that oranges weren't going to be plentiful because of frost. Dan's and Eddie's characters, however, knew that the opposite was true and that the supplies of orange juice were going to be plentiful because they got the real inside information. So the Dukes foolishly were buying orange futures based on the bogus false shortage, while Dan's and Eddie's characters waited until the price got sufficiently high enough to begin selling short. Then, just before the real government report on the status of oranges was about to be released, everybody stops cold to listen. The report revealed that oranges supplies were plentiful and more supply meant lower prices. When trading resumes, Dan's and Eddie's characters just wait again as the price plunges from its inflated levels based on the bogus assumption that a shortage existed. Since futures are highly leveraged, the Dukes didn't have the money to cover their catastrophic losses, but Dan's and Eddie's characters made a "killing." So now you know exactly what was happening.

[DD-srxm]

I worked on comex then in bank trading rooms for 35 years. This is the most accurate depiction of trading in any movie, aside from the Dukes’ illegal trading of course.

[peep]

I love this movie so much, and it's such a great movie, for years I didn't even care about the fact I didn't completely understand the mechanisms at play. I was just happy they won.

[catherinesmith]

Trading Places is also the greatest Christmas movie ever. Even better than Die Hard. I said what I said.

[maxcorey]

One of my favorite comedies. Both are brilliant.

[Tjd]

Every time my hair gets in my sandwich, I always go back to Dan eating the beard salmon on the bus.

[itsnotme]

Having worked for a couple Wall Street firms in my career, this movie is very accurate for the timeframe in which it was made. One of my favorite movies of all time too!

[palehorse]

I have more than one DVD of this movie. I had one that was perfectly adequate, but then they released one with a special feature explanation of the whole shorting thing that happened at the end. I bought the DVD purely for that. No regrets.

I'm hoping in the future they release a DVD with a recipe for delicious beard salmon.

[alaindevos]

i still love this movie even on 2024, and im a big fan of Dan Aykroyd

[TheKersey]

Would have been more fitting for them to be drinking Orange Juice (or Mimosas at the very least) instead of Champagne at the ending.

[jpcquadnet]

The Philadelphia Mint (now the Community College of Philadelphia) was the set for the police station's exterior. At the time I was working demolition at the mint and got to meet the stars. I was impressed with the work ethic and the long hours it took to produce the film.

[mdd]

"Bacon...as might be found in a ...bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich....!" <Eddie looks at camera>

[jhchooo]

This movie is SO underrated. It is a masterpiece. John Landis, during this period made Animal House, American Werewolf in London, The Blues Brothers and Coming to America... even Three Amigos, and this movie... all comic masterpieces.

[dzl]

“Mortimer, I don’t think your brother is well..”

“Fuck him!! Get those traders back in here! Turn those machines back on!!”