In preparation for his role, Shia LaBeouf worked extensively with traders and researchers on the world of finance and economy. He even invested $20,000 and ended up making more than $400,000. A few people who trained him were later arrested for illegal acts of trading.
Shia LaBeouf became so interested in trading that he began studying for his Series 7 Exam, earning his broker's license.
When the film was released, Shia LaBeouf told a story about a disagreement he had with Oliver Stone over a line. He told the press: "We're in the Adirondacks, and Josh Brolin and I are shooting this bike scene. And at one point I say to Josh a line - 'You should look at yourself in the mirror first and see yourself. It might scare you.' I looked at the line for a couple of months and thought I'd go to Oliver and say, 'You look at the mirror and look at yourself. It's sort of repetitive. Why don't we just cut one of those? Why don't I say, Look at yourself. It might scare you.' Stone looked at him and calmly replied 'I like mirror. I wrote Scarface (1983). Go fuck yourself.'"
Jake's ringtone is opening title theme to "The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly". The film Eli Wallach has star in as Tuco, 44 years prior to his role as Julie in this film.
Anthony Scaramucci: The writer of 'Goodbye Gordon Gekko', who appears often on CNBC, makes an appearance as an unnamed character.
Melissa Lee, Becky Quick, David Faber, Maria Bartiromo, Ron Insana: Several CNBC personalities make appearances in the film as themselves.
Oliver Stone: [W] The third consecutive time that a fiction film released by Stone begins with the letter W (following W. (2008) and World Trade Center (2006)). All three films are based on historical/political events in the early 21st century.