MovieChat Forums > Margin Call (2011) Discussion > the most striking inferrence - spoilers

the most striking inferrence - spoilers

posted 13 years ago by smfilm
9 replies | jump to latest

the most striking revelation is that the cuts were happening when business was BOOMING...

Tuld knew it was going to blow up and was already getting prepared... thats why it wasnt a shock to him in the meeting and he had already thought through that the music had stopped and it was no big deal to him....

why else cut with business at all time highs?

Tuld was already on the ball and everyone else was playing catch up.... and that knowledge is the most sinister thing about the whole movie....

[–] AnonII 13 years ago

Absolutely--one of biggest flaws of movie is that the firm cuts "80%" of the trading floor staff (!!) , as Spacey's Sam Rogers announces--BEFORE any crisis ever occurs!

[–] cmckenzie3 13 years ago

History repeats itself was the biggest clue when he began rhyming off every date of financial crashes from the last century. But all too ready to rebuild and cherry pick his staff to start again.

Make of that what you will.

[–] guruofmovies 13 years ago

I'm was sure it was explicitly said that business was booming, correct me if I am wrong. I was under the impression that there was some downturn already (though not much), this led the the major 2008 downturn.

Stop looking at me swan!

[–] viss1 13 years ago

Firms had been reducing the size of their risk management departments before anyone had a whiff of the collapse. The thinking was that the invention of CDO's and MDS's made risk obsolete.

But it is of course also true that firms were trimming their ranks before the collapse had any real momentum. Even a detached CEO knows that when you start betting against your own products, you better start battening the hatches.

[–] mjz688 13 years ago

Very true, viss. And don't forget that there were a few hints in the film that markets had already been in turmoil for a couple of weeks before the 24-hour period during which the film takes place. My supposition is that the firm represented Lehmann, and the day in question was the Friday before the weekend that Lehmann collapsed, bringing the rest of Wall Street -- and the US economy -- down with it. The difference, of course, is that this firm (we assume) survives to fleece another day.

[–] dyingearth 13 years ago

It wasn't booming. As they've explained, their position was already on the other side of their model. Albeit, they didn't know it at the time of the massive layoff, the market was already bad at the start of the movie.

[–] searchagentmail 13 years ago

There is an inference that there was already market turmoil and the firm wanted to be ahead of the curve. However, that is not an odd occurrence in finance. It's always safer to cut than to risk losing money simply on wages and salaries.

The other thing about finance....they are not there to shepard people's careers. It is not an altruistic entity. You either hit the ground running or you are mince meat. This is the "up or out" mentality and some firms regularly cull the bottom X percent of certain groups. They just want the crime of the crop.

That being said, I think it is clear that Tuld knew something more than he was willing to tell people like Sam.

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] smfilm 12 years ago

the film basically puts up the premise that Tuld was beating the street to the conclusion... so while CDO biz was flying hi / booming... he decided to basically amputate the line of business while everyone else was still buying to cut the potentially disastrous loss