Fisher Capital Management| Boiler Room :: rogerebert.com :: Reviews

"Boiler Room" tells the story of a 19-year-old named Seth who makes a nice income running an illegal casino in his apartment. His dad, a judge, finds out about it and raises holy hell. So the kid gets a daytime job as a broker with a Long Island, N.Y., bucket shop that sells worthless or dubious stock with high-pressure telephone tactics. When he was running his casino, Seth muses, at least he was providing a product that his customers wanted.

The movie is the writing and directing debut of Ben Younger, a 29-year-old who says he interviewed a lot of brokers while writing the screenplay. I believe him. The movie hums with authenticity, and knows a lot about the cultlike power of a company that promises to turn its trainees into millionaires, and certainly turns them into efficient phone salesmen.

No experience is necessary at J.T. Marlin: "We don't hire brokers here--we train new ones," snarls Jim (Ben Affleck), already a millionaire, who gives new recruits a hard-edged introductory lecture crammed with obscenities and challenges to their manhood. "Did you see `Glengarry Glen Ross'?" he asks them. He certainly has. Mamet's portrait of high-pressure real estate salesmen is like a bible in this culture, and a guy like Jim doesn't see the message, only the style. (Younger himself observes that Jim, giving his savage pep talks, not only learned his style from Alec Baldwin's scenes in "Glengarry" but wants to be Baldwin.) The film's narrator is Seth Davis (Giovanni Ribisi), an unprepossessing young man with a bad suit who learns in a short time to separate suckers from their money with telephone fantasies about hot stocks and IPOs. Everybody wants to be a millionaire right now, he observes. Ironically, the dream of wealth he's selling with his cold calls is the same one J.T. Marlin is selling him.

In the phone war room with Seth are several other brokers, including the successful Chris (Vin Diesel) and Greg (Nicky Katt), who exchange anti-Jewish and Italian slurs almost as if it's expected of them. At night the guys go out, get drunk and sometimes get in fights with brokers from other houses. The kids gambling in Seth's apartment were better behaved. We observe that both gamblers and stockbrokers bet their money on a future outcome, but as a gambler you pay the house nut, while as a broker you collect the house nut. Professional gamblers claim they do not depend on luck but on an understanding of the odds and prudent money management. Investors believe much the same thing. Of course, nobody ever claims luck has nothing to do with it unless luck has something to do with it.

The movie has the high-octane feel of real life, closely observed. It's made more interesting because Seth isn't a slickster like Michael Douglas or Charlie Sheen in "Wall Street" (a movie these guys know by heart), but an uncertain, untested young man who stands in the shadow of his father the judge (Ron Rifkin) who, he thinks, is always judging him.

The tension between Seth and the judge is one of the best things in the film--especially in Rifkin's quiet, clear power in scenes where he lays down the law. When Seth refers to their relationship, his dad says: "Relationship? What relationship? I'm not your girlfriend. Relationships are your mother's shtick. I'm your father." A relationship does grow in the film, however, between Seth and Abby (Nia Long), the receptionist, and although it eventually has a lot to do with the plot, what I admired was the way Younger writes their scenes so that they actually share hopes, dreams, backgrounds and insecurities instead of falling into automatic movie passion. When she touches his hand, it is at the end of a scene during which she empathizes with him.

Because of the routine racism at the firm, Seth observes it must not be a comfortable place for a black woman to work. Abby points out she makes $80,000 a year and is supporting a sick mother. Case closed, with no long anguished dramaturgy over interracial dating; they like each other and have evolved beyond racial walls. Younger's handling of their scenes shames movies where the woman exists only to be the other person in the sex scene.

The acting is good all around. A few days ago I saw Vin Diesel as a vicious prisoner in the space opera "Pitch Black," and now here he is, still tough, still with the shaved head, but now the only guy at the brokerage that Seth really likes, and trusts enough to appeal to. Diesel is interesting. Something will come of him.

"Boiler Room" isn't perfect. The film's ending is a little too busy; it's too contrived the way Abby doesn't tell Seth something he needs to know; there's a scene where a man calls her by name and Seth leaps to a conclusion when in fact that man would have every reason to know her name; and I am still not sure exactly what kind of a deal Seth was trying to talk his father into in their crucial evening meeting. But those are all thoughts I had afterward. During the movie I was wound up with tension and involvement, all the more so because the characters are all complex and guilty, the good as well as the bad, and we can understand why everyone in the movie does what they do. Would we? Depends.

Fisher Capital management Warning : Imperial Tobacco issues Spanish profit warning

http://www.facebook.com/notes/fisher-capital-management-scam-reviews/fisher-capital-management-warning-imperial-tobacco-issues-spanish-profit-warning/252369651441056

FTSE 100, Imperial Tobacco

Related Articles

Aviva name RBS non-exec McFarlane as next chairman more >>

Market update (PM): Glencore falls despite strong Q1 results

more >>

FSA bans and fines trader £700,000 more >>

Tesco reveals sales growth in first quarter more >>

Market update (AM): Eurasian and Glencore fall in early trading more >>

HSBC sells Russian retail bank operations more >>

Imperial Tobacco (IMT.L) today warned profits from its Spanish division could drop by up to £110 million for the year ending 30 September 2011 compared to previous guidance.

The cigarette manufacturer said it was responding to price cuts from competitors in recent weeks, which have impacted all market participants in the Spanish market, and the company has moved to protect its market position.

Included in the £110 million cut in forecast, the company said £40 million of this represented a one-off non-recurring impact on the logistics division.

The company’s share price dipped last month when members of the Spanish media reported that its Altadis subsidiary was planning to cut the price of its blonde tobacco brands following an aggressive pricing move by rival Phillip Morris.

In a statement delivered to the London StockExchange, the company said it is continuing to monitor the position closely.

Despite today’s announcement, Imperial maintained that the overall group performance is unlikely to be materially impacted when the financial results are released on 30 September, saying they remain in line with the board’s expectations.

Throughout Western Europe, Imperial has a presence in most markets through its Davidoff, West, JPS and Golden Virginia brands.

As at 0845hrs, Imperial Tobacco was already trading down at 2,059, 1.25 per cent down on Friday’s close.

To receive more relevant articles like this one, why not sign up to our weekly newsletters, click here

Fisher Capital Management Scam Prevention News - Zimbio

Investors buying a level annuity with a pension pot of £80,000 will spend their entire monthly income on basic living costs within seven years of retirement, according to new statistics.

Standard Life researchers have warned that many people could see their retirement income consumed by the basic costs of living as the effect of inflation eats into the money they set aside for retirement.

The FTSE 100 company’s retirement team today warned that investors to take financial advice or risk losing out from inflation restricting living standards in the future.

John Lawson, head of pensions policy at Standard Life, said the cost of living is rising fast for most people in the UK, but this can be particularly acute for pensioners.

He explained, ‘Their spending habits are driven by commodities such as food and fuel bills and these inflation rates are much higher than the overall UK inflation rate.

‘People need to consider how to protect their buying power in retirement from the ravages of inflation over a long period of time, which could be 30 years or more.

‘If pensioner inflation remains at around 6 per cent a year, people with a fixed income could lose almost half of their spending power within a ten year period.

‘There are many options to consider at retirement which could minimise the impact of inflation on your income, so seeking professional financial advice is vital.’

Fisher Capital Management Warning: BOK issues blanket warning on debt

Bank of Korea Governor Kim Choong-soo, right, holds a meeting with chief executives at the BOK’s headquarters in central Seoul yesterday. Korea’s central bank governor cautioned companies, individuals and the government yesterday on the danger of taking on an unreasonable level of debt. During a meeting with corporate executives yesterday, Bank of Korea Governor Kim Choong-so said, “corporations, the government and individuals should pay close attention to how much debt they take on.” The BOK’s 25 basis point rate hike last Friday will increase interest payments for debt holders. Kim also commented on Korea’s mounting household debt. “We should keep an eye on those who take out loans that have no ability to pay them back.” Yet he expressed confidence that Korea’s record household debt – which recently exceeded the 800 trillion won mark – is manageable. A number of the country’s largest conglomerates were represented at the meeting, including Kim Young-chul, Dongkuk Steel president & CEO; Alfred S. Koh, Samsung SDS CEO; Huh Chang-soo, GS Engineering & Construction chairman; Huh Myung-soo, GS E&C president & CEO; and Yoon Young-doo, Asiana Airlines chief executive. “The housing market doesn’t look so optimistic,” said GS E&C’s chairman, blaming it on financial authorities’ tight management of project financing loans, causing builders to suffer from unsold apartments. Regarding the airline industry’s outlook, Asiana Airlines Chief Executive Yoon said: “The industry was sluggish in March and April due to Japan’s massive earthquake, but after hitting bottom in April, the number of visitors to Japan is on the rise. And since oil prices have stabilized, the industry is likely to do fine in the third and fourth quarter when demand peaks.” Meanwhile, S&P’s downgrade of Greece’s credit rating to the lowest possible level did not negatively affect the local stock market. The Kospi rose by nearly 30 points on relief over China’s inflation data. “The local market was buoyed by relief over the index that had been giving fears the most to the market,” said SK Securities analyst Kim Young-jun. He added that S&P’s credit rating downgrade of Greece did not negatively affect the local market as much since, “Greece had already received non-investment grades by credit rating agencies before the most recent downgrade in its sovereign rating by S&P. So large institutional investors had not been able to invest in Greece anyway.”