Welcome to “From the Trader’s Desk” and my recap of “Dead Cat Bounce”. (I’m just going to say this upfront: I hate that term, but only because I’m a cat momma!)
We open up at the Spartan-Ives sponsored “Thought Leaders” conference, which costs $3,000 to attend. These types of conferences are common, and can be market movers. Certain managers will mention a stock they like (or don’t) and it will move the stock price as they are speaking.
That is what you get when you try to poach Axe’s most valuable employee, Todd.
Axe starts picking on Todd’s obviously scripted speech at Spartan-Ives “Global Thought Leaders” panel moderated by Lawrence Boyd. While Krakow’s choice of poet is Pindar, Axe’s seems to be Walt Whitman (who can forget the “barbaric yawp” scene from Dead Poets Society?). Is it just me or does Wags’ smile turn to concern as Axe leaves the room saying Krakow’s “party cocktail tutor” owes him a refund?
source: Showtime
Axe apologizes to Boyd for being a bad boy but Boyd cannot be happier about what just happened. It seems he picked the panel for its entertainment value. The street will talk about this for weeks and whoever was not in the room will make Spartan-Ives their prime broker to be able to attend next year. Axe is not happy about playing “the bull” to Boyd’s “red sash” every time. Continue reading “Billions on Showtime, Season 2, Episode 2: Dead Cat Bounce”
First things first: I thank Showtime for releasing the season premiere early and giving me time to digest this extremely rich and loaded episode and fantasize a little bit about what may come our way. In a recent interview with CraveTV Canada, Damian hinted that the first episode is the calmest of the season. Given that this episode alone has several game changers, we are certainly in for a real treat! It’s hard to put in words but you can see below how ready I am for the thrill ride! Continue reading “Billions on Showtime, Season 2, Episode 1: Risk Management”
A warning for those just starting to watch Billions in the UK, this blog will contain spoilers for all of season 1.
To know who Bobby Axelrod is means having an understanding of where he has been and how he has gotten to here. At the moment we just have ‘the here’ with a couple of anecdotes thrown in. Granted the 9/11 reveal was fairly big, but in the end just added more questions.
The simple view of Bobby Axelrod is a husband, a father and the owner of Axe Capital. Digging under the surface the clear picture starts to blur.
His wife loves him and is loyal to him yet it is clear there are things she does not know about him or about how he will react in certain circumstances. In Magical thinking Lara tells her sister Lu that she needs Bobby “to give her something” i.e. she needs him to share with her. It probably hurt her knowing he was off sharing his feelings with Wendy. In ‘the Conversation’ we see the first slither of doubts cross her mind even as the words she speaks say the opposite. I found it interesting that Bobby decided to leave all that money in the house rather than return it to the bank. Is this a test for his wife? At this stage I wouldn’t put it past him. Lara did not appreciate the inference of having to up and run soon by keeping the money in the house. Nor did she appreciate the affection with which Bobby spoke of Wendy in the same scene. It seems to me Mr & Mrs Axelrod may be about to hit choppy waters. I hope that boat came with life jackets.
Source: Showtime
His boys look up to him but then they are children who still think that dad knows best and are still at the stage where they prefer ‘cool’ dad far better than ‘realistic and responsible’ mum. The reality is that cool dad is not doing himself or his boys any favours. They are childish enough that they thank him for his undermining of whatever their mother says and does. They will grow out of that eventually. Continue reading “Value of Loyalty and Bobby Axelrod’s varying degrees”
We open with the US Attorney’s office. Bryan is looking like crap, still covered in Donnie’s blood. Everyone is gathered there. Chuck starts talking about becoming a chess master. He talks of his flaw about feeling his opponent is unworthy of him simply because of the way his opponent played the game. Rage would take over and he would think about total destruction. It is clear where Chuck is going with this. “While I was trying to destroy him, I’d forget to win”.
He would use tactics designed to intimidate, leave voids in his defence. He knew better, but could not do better.
“At the end of the game my opponent’s arm would be raised in victory while I sat humiliated and alone, bathed in anger and defeat. Here I am again…beaten”
There is a saying that an angry man is a blind man.
Chuck then tells everyone that Donnie is going to die soon and that they have to assume that everything Donnie gave them was false. He wishes the loss were his alone, but it isn’t. He expects that, within the hour, Adam DeGiulio from the AG’s office will walk in and take them off the Axelrod case.
Chuck calls Axe bloodless for using Donnie in the manner that he did. That he was not as bloodless as Axe. Bryan tries to shoulder some of the blame, but Chuck won’t let him.
“They’ll call me sloppy, driven, and unhinged and for once they will be correct.”
Kate asks what they can do.
Chuck answers “we can remember how the game is supposed to be played. We will retreat so we can attack when it is to our advantage.” His stirring speech is fittingly interrupted by the arrival of Adam DeGiulio, who seems to bring tension right into the office with him.
