Author: Lady Trader

"Lady Trader" is a Brooklyn girl, and a Wall Street lifer! Recently fought cancer, and won! I love heavy metal, history, sci-fi, oh, and blogging about Billions and it's great lead actor, Damian Lewis!

“From the Trader’s Desk”:
Bobby Axelrod – a Man and his Music *UPDATED FOR SEASON 5*

**UPDATED FOR SEASON 5**

What metal shirt will Axe reveal in Season 5? I’d love to see (and Gingersnap is with me on this!) an Iron Maiden classic (The Trooper, or Piece of Mind), or Judas Priest. But now we know Axe likes the classic metal bands as well, so it could Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Rush or even Rainbow.

Yes, I wrote those words back in December 2019, before we were teased with the Season 5 Billions trailer and Axe’s metal shirt was revealed to be none other than Rainbow.  Axe continued the tradition of wearing his metal on his sleeve (or on his chest) in Episode 3 “Beg, Bride, Bully“.

In each season of Billions, at least one episode has featured a song and a t-shirt of a metal band that must be Axe’s favorites.  (Gingersnap and I are always trying to predict which band will be featured. We’re holding out Season 6, or maybe in the second half of Season 5 will finally be the year of Maiden!!) The writers of Billions don’t do anything just to do it, so we know that these choices are there to tell a story, shine light on who the character is, and to set a tone. Continue reading ““From the Trader’s Desk”: Bobby Axelrod – a Man and his Music *UPDATED FOR SEASON 5*”

Top Billions Songs: Lady Trader’s Playlist

Billions is many things to many people: some love the amazing acting, some enjoy the sharp writing, and many love the pop culture references galore.

However it’s the soundtrack to Billions that can be all things to all people!

From Dylan to Black Sabbath, from Sammy Davis Jr. to Nelly, Billions has it all, and more.

I’ve written several times about Axe and his music; it was only natural for the gang at Fan Fun to share our favorite songs featured in our favorite show. Continue reading “Top Billions Songs: Lady Trader’s Playlist”

Desert Island Discs with Lady Trader

Music is something that has always been special to me. It has been there for me in tough times, helped me celebrate joyous occasions, and spoke to me when I thought no one else could hear me. Yes, I am a metal chick at heart, but shuffle my iPhone, and you’re as likely to get RuPaul or Culture Club as you are Black Sabbath or Iron Maiden. I’ve performed music (trumpet for 6 years) in school concerts and saw the power it has to move people. I never trust someone who says they don’t enjoy music!

It was extremely difficult to choose just 8 songs that remind me of Damian Lewis or a character he has played, since I have thousands of songs in my head and heart. I hope I did both the actor and the characters he has brought to life justice. Continue reading “Desert Island Discs with Lady Trader”

Billions Season 5: Expectations, Things We’d Like To See (or not!) and a Fantasy or Two – Revisited!

Hello from the Trader’s Desk!

For the past 4 seasons, as we eagerly awaited the upcoming season of our favorite show “Billions“, we here at Fan Fun shared some of our predictions and thoughts about the new season. Now that Season 5  has come to it’s mid-season (Covid induced, unfortunately!) conclusion, we thought it would be FUN to look back and see just how good our predictions were. We also decided to tweak our predictions for the remainder of  Season 5.

So as we look into the Billions Crystal Ball, let’s see how we did so far!

Continue reading “Billions Season 5: Expectations, Things We’d Like To See (or not!) and a Fantasy or Two – Revisited!”

“From the Trader’s Desk”: Home is Where the Heart Is? Billions S5E3 “Opportunity Zone”

Times have changed and times are strange
Here I come, but I ain’t the same
Mama, I’m coming home
Mama, I’m Coming Home – Ozzy Osbourne

 

TGIF and welcome to The Trader’s Desk. As has been the pattern the last few weeks, I’ll give a brief explanation of what an Opportunity Zone is, some quick observations, and then focus on Axe and why “stinking” of Yonkers is a double-edged sword for him.

What is an Opportunity Zone? (The WSJ review of Billions gives a really great explanation – I use some of it here)

Opportunity zones are real. The idea is part of the 2017 tax overhaul (however the Treasury Department just finalized rules for them in late 2019). Investors who have significant capital gains can take that money and invest it into an opportunity fund, for which they get a tax break. The fund in turn invests in businesses in designated disadvantaged neighborhoods. There’s no limit on how much you can invest, but you need to keep it invested for at least 10 years to get the tax benefit. That makes it less attractive for hedge funds, which likely won’t want to tie up their capital for that long. Consequently, in the real world, hedge funds have not moved aggressively into opportunity zones. There is also the question of just throwing money at these areas. While building shopping malls, business complexes and some housing is nice, if you don’t address the root of the issues, then in a few years all you have are empty shopping malls and business complexes. Continue reading ““From the Trader’s Desk”: Home is Where the Heart Is? Billions S5E3 “Opportunity Zone””