The financial world seems like such a natural subject for a reality series, it's kind of surprising that no one did it before. (What about The Apprentice, you ask? That's more about marketing than high finance.) Wall Street Warriors, which airs on the MOJO HD channel, follows six individuals - ranging from a multimillionaire fund manager to a fresh-faced trader straight out of NYU - going about their business in the world of business. (Groan...)
As with most of these candid reality shows, Wall Street Warriors is only as interesting as the people being followed around, and some of its subjects are much more interesting than others. Canadian-born Brett Hickey looks around sixteen years old, but he's managing a mutual fund, driving exotic and classic cars, hosting lavish parties in the Hamptons, and flying out to expensive housing developments in which he can invest. He's a stereotypical Yuppie rich kid, to be sure, but darned if it isn't fascinating to see the lavish details of his life. On the other hand, Larry is a veteran of the mosh pit known as the New York Mercantile Exchange - one of the guys who desperately screams orders to buy and sell - where his fellow floor traders are viciously competitive but have developed an amusing camaraderie.
Most of the other characters are kind of forgettable, unfortunately. But the biggest problem with Wall Street Warriors is that it doesn't really explain to the viewer what's going on. In one episode, for example, Larry is anxiously waiting for a report from Florida predicting how many cases of frozen orange juice will be produced that year. If the number is higher or lower than his prediction, he says, he could lose a fortune. But the show never really explains why he stands to lose so much money. When the report comes in, showing much higher production numbers than expected, Larry is presumably hurt by the corresponding drop in price. But I'm not sure how, exactly.
Season two of Wall Street Warriors was filmed in 2007, just before the subrpime meltdown really started to take its toll. Right now, of course, we're in the middle of what might be the worst market turmoil since the 1930s. If they're filming a third season of Wall Street Warriors right now, I bet that will make for some great television.
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