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.
Welcome to “From the Trader’s Desk” for the 2nd Season of Billions! The original concept of these posts was to recap of 2-3 episodes from my point of view as a trader, and to help with any confusion with “fin speak”. However, “Risk Management” was so meaty; I had to dive right in. So now, without further ado….
”Trading is gambling, legalized gambling.”
source: Showtime
Those are words I spoke to Damianista on our first meeting. I think she asked me how I got into the financial industry, and I told her I loved to gamble, and found a way to do it legally.
How fitting then is it that we open Season 2 with Axe sitting at a racetrack! Now, I’ll admit, I didn’t know it was Yonkers Raceway. I thought it was Belmont Park, a place my grandfather would take me to as a kid. Axe tells Bach “this place made me”, and I totally understand. Continue reading “From the Trader’s Desk: “Risk Management”, Episode 1 Season 2 of Billions”
This blog has been a long time coming. Damianista and JaniaJania have been wishing to see it up for a long time. I wanted to wait until I had seen all 12 episodes before posting.
We had devoured all the early promos for the show and have been blogging about Billions for over a year. We attempted to get a feel for the characters as early as we could and this helped immensely as we discussed what we thought about Bobby and Wendy. Even early on, it was clear those two had a connection. After Naming Rights, we were having one of our discussions and I mentioned that I thought there was some Peter Pan in Bobby and Wendy. I was encouraged to investigate this further as Jania Jania said “Peter Pan is an archetype now…the boy who doesn’t want to grow up.” Investigate I have and there is a fair bit of Peter in Bobby. I am not saying this was intentional on the writer’s part, but that I had fun digging through the book looking for it. .
Quotes from Peter Pan by J M Barrie are in italics. The other quotes not in italics are from Billions.
Bobby and Dr Mojo/Peter & Wendy with sprinkles of lost boys and Tink
Bobby even has his own Wendy, (hereinafter referred to as “Dr Mojo”) and he has built his house around her.
source: Showtime
“She knew of no Peter, and yet he was here and there in John and Michael’s minds, while Wendy’s began to be scrawled all over with him. The name stood out in bold letter than any of the other words andas Mrs Darling gazed she felt that it had an oddly cocky appearance.”
Dr Mojo’s mind seems to be scrawled all over with Bobby Axelrod and Bobby Axelrod is quite as cocky as Peter Pan. Dr Mojo knows what Bobby is, but she stays by his side for a very long time. She forgives his transgressions and mistakes.
“There’s a lot of humor in this — a lot of playfulness, which I was not expecting.” — Damian Lewis on Billions
source: Showtime
Humor derived from life and delivered at the right time and place can make a TV show! And, I believe, it is Seinfeld that perfected the delivery of small but precise details of daily life on small screen! George double-dips a chip in a bowl of dip at a wake and you laugh not just because of what he does but also because you remember the guy who double-dipped at the last party you attended. Elaine’s new boyfriend is a serious close talker and you laugh because you remember the close talkers in your life. Jerry believes you don’t need any extra incentive to kill your dry cleaner and you laugh because you remember the last argument you had with your dry cleaner about the remaining stain on your favorite pants. These are the scenes that stay with you for the longest time because they all come from real life!
Many dramas, as they try hard to stick to drama, forget about this kind of humor; which, given at the right time and place, may be one of the most delicious moments of an episode and can even send a serious message home. We applaud Billions for not shying away from giving us such moments. Continue reading “From “Emergency Deodorant” to “Coach K”: Why We LOVE Billions’ Sense of Humor”
Not to fret dear readers, Billions Season 2 is just a day over a month away!
Now, we here at Fan Fun watched and re-watched every episode last season as soon as it hit air, but, I know from my own viewing habits of non-current content, binge-watching is where the future of entertainment lies. And with binge-watching comes a unique perspective gotten from sort of swallowing the entire meal whole. It’s like reading an entire book in one sitting instead of spacing a chapter per week. Also, when you’re binge-watching and transitioning between seasons, there’s a bit of a disconnect if (or when!) you find that some of the characters have been re-imagined somewhat from who they were a year ago. Not sure why I’m going on about this. I guess it’s to get you guys to binge watch Season 1 before the next one starts. 🙂 Also it’s to say that the scenes we found so dear last year may be upended this year. Characters may be reborn. You never know what you’re going to get. I have a sneaking suspicion that we won’t be disappointed!
As a prelude to counting down to the season premiere on February 19, let’s take a look at what we liked best about last season, shall we?
