Pursuit of Excellence

http://www.investopedia.com/articles/insights/072916/top-10-wall-street-movies.asp

After last week’s brief reference to movies, I decided to include this article. It’s a good mix of movies that have some reference to Wall Street.

From classic Wall Street to the more recent The Big Short, these are the top movies that portray Wall Street, the markets and finance.

In order to have an objective ranking system, this quick study used a cumulative score from IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic. The scores from Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic are audience scores. Since Rotten Tomatoes uses percentages (i.e., 90% of the audience liked this movie), that percentage score was changed to a 1-10 score with decimals when necessary. For example, if a movie has a Rotten Tomatoes audience score of 88%, then the score is 8.8. The movie with the highest cumulative score was ranked number one. (For more, see: 4 Movies Showing the Real Side of Finance.)

Top 10 Wall Street Movies

Keep in mind that these are broad-based ratings, not just ratings from people who work in finance. (For more, see: How Hollywood Portrays Wall Street.)

	IMDb	Rotten Tomatoes	Metacritic	Total Score
1. Inside Job	8.3	9.1	8.4	25.8
2. The Big Short	7.8	8.8	8.3	24.9
2. American Psycho	7.6	8.5	8.8	24.9
4. Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room	7.7	8.6	8.4	24.7
5. Trading Places	7.5	8.5	8.6	24.6
6. Wall Street	7.4	8.1	8.9	24.4
7. The Wolf of Wall Street	8.2	8.2	6.8	23.2
8. The Family Man	6.7	6.7	8.8	22.2
9. Working Girl	6.7	6.7	8.7	22.1
10. Margin Call	7.1	7.4	7.2	21.7

Remember, these cumulative scores are based on a broad audience. If ratings were only taken from those who work in finance, the list would likely look a lot different. For example, Wall Street would likely rank higher.

 

Each of these movies are either a thriller, comedy, or even a documentary. I suggest watching one of these movies if not for the financial education, then simply for entertainment purpose. I don’t endorse any one move in particular, and some of the movies may contain adult language, adult content, and violence.

http://www.thisisinsider.com/goldieblox-ceo-debbie-sterling-best-advice-for-entrepreneurs-2016-6

In 2012, Stanford-educated engineer Debbie Sterling founded toy company GoldieBlox to encourage young girls to start tinkering with toys and building machines.

The first-time entrepreneur is catering construction toys to young girls in an effort to raise the percentage of female engineers in the world, which currently stands at just 14%. Debbie attributes the success of GoldieBox to one lesson: Don’t be afraid to ask for help.
“I think the biggest mistake you can make as an entrepreneur is pretending that you know everything, or feeling you need to come across like you do,” Sterling said. Rather, the key is “admitting freely that I don’t know the answer to something or don’t know how to do something, so long as I seek somebody who does.”
I admit I have trouble asking for help. In my work environment, because of the demands and the different layers of tasks I’m asked to do, I feel like I can’t ask for help, or I’m concerned about the level of service that will be provided. If you’ve experienced these moments too, then I encourage you to begin to delegate more and trust your co-workers more. There’s only 24 hours in a day, and within that time only so many tasks can be completed. Prioritize the important ones and ask for help on the easy ones. It sounds simple, and it may seem like it conveys weakness, but if the people you work with know your heart then they know it’s a genuine need and not a sign of laziness. “Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.” (Proverbs 15:22 NIV). No one is an island, and we’re better together. Seek and get help, because it will help you grow. Sterling said the lesson is especially valuable for girls, whose self-confidence is malleable at a young age. “I see a lot of young women who feel so much pressure to be perfect and have it all figured out that have too much pride or they’re too ashamed to admit if they don’t get something right away,” Sterling said. “If they’re too afraid, they’re just going to shy away from it, which is sort of a recipe for not fulfilling your potential.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/help-for-middle-of-the-night-insomnia-1467048493

It is a frustratingly common scenario: You fall asleep easily at bedtime but are wide awake at 2 or 3 in the morning. Only after a half-hour or more of staring at the ceiling can you finally fall back to sleep. This middle-of-the-night insomnia happens to everyone every once in a while. It is an appropriate, normal response to stress, doctors say. About 30% of American adults have symptoms of some sort of insomnia each year, according to scientific studies. Chronic insomnia is generally defined as having difficulty sleeping at least three times a week for three months or more. I started having trouble sleeping a little in my college years, but even more frequently in my mid-20s. I hope this article will be helpful if you’re having trouble staying asleep. Dr. Perlis suggests that the best way to keep an occasional bout of insomnia from becoming a disorder is to simply not try to compensate for the sleep you do miss. Your body will naturally re-adjust if you don’t nap, sleep in or go to bed early to try to recover the difference. Allow your body to balance itself. The article goes on to provide helpful hints such as not allowing bright lights such as computers or cell phones. Another helpful hint is to not snack in the middle of the night, because it could condition your body to keep waking up. The article concludes with various sleep medications, and in my opinion, the best way to get fight insomnia is to actively engage in your rest. Let your bedroom be for sleep. Tomorrow will be here before you know it.

If you have a prayer request, or if you’re in need of a financial checkup you can reach me in the contact me section.

For this week, I’ve included an animated book review of Start with Why by Simon Sinek

“But those who want the best for me, Let them have the last word—a glad shout!— and say, over and over and over, ” GOD is great—everything works together for good for his servant.” I’ll tell the world how great and good you are, I’ll shout Hallelujah all day, every day.”

Psalm 35:27-28 MSG