Life Without Principle (2011)

Trader's Film Library #81 · Markets and trading in fiction. A day of panic on the Hong Kong stock market through the eyes of a bank clerk, a gangster and a policeman.

Original title: Life Without Principle (Dyut meng gam) · Type: film · Created by: Johnnie To · Usefulness for traders: ★★★☆☆

What it's about

Hong Kong, a day of market panic triggered by the European debt crisis. Three intertwined stories: bank clerk Teresa (Denise Ho), whose sales figures are poor and who talks clients into risky products; a small-time gangster (Lau Ching-wan) looking for money for a friend; and a policeman (Richie Jen) whose wife wants to buy a flat. Each of them has to decide how many rules they're willing to break for money.

What it has to do with markets

The film shows the crisis from ordinary people's perspective: investment products sold to people who don't understand them, the chase for quick profit, and how news from the other side of the world changes prices in Hong Kong within hours.

Lessons for traders

• if someone is selling you a product under pressure to hit targets, ask who really bears the risk
• markets are connected: a crisis in Europe can topple a stock market in Asia
• greed and fear grow fastest on days of panic (herding, Atlas of biases #31)

What to watch out for

Genre cinema with humour and a crime storyline. Market mechanics are the backdrop, not the subject.

Discussion

The discussion takes place in Hetman Capital Club (in Polish). Join the discussion in the Club →

Navigation

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The description outlines the plot without revealing the ending where possible (true stories have a known outcome). Educational content, not investment advice.