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!

Billions, Season 4: Expectations, Things We’d Like To See (or not!) and a Fantasy or Two!!

The gang here at Fan Fun write about Billions and Damian Lewis because we just love to do it. Not for recognition or reward, we just plain enjoy it! That being said, when we do get a nod, we are over the moon. As always, thank you Mr. Koppelman for your compliment on our work. You made our day!! And we will continue to write our hearts out about our favorite show!

Hello from the Trader’s Desk!

I hope you all had a fabulous winter, and are ready to get Spring rolling with Axe, Chuck, Wendy and the gang!

As we all eagerly anticipate Season 4 of our favorite show, “Billions“, we here at Fan Fun thought it would be interesting for us to share some of our thoughts on the upcoming season. Continue reading “Billions, Season 4: Expectations, Things We’d Like To See (or not!) and a Fantasy or Two!!”

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

**UPDATE**

I am so happy to be able to have an update to this post, because it means we now know Axe will be featuring another heavy-metal t-shirt in the upcoming Season 4 of Billions!

Showtime has dropped a few trailers from the upcoming season, and being the eagle-eye that I am, I spotted Axe and his Motörhead t-shirt from the first trailer. So, who are Motörhead, and why would Axe be a fan?

Motörhead were an English metal band formed in the mid-1970’s, whose lead singer was Lemmy (aka Ian Fraser Kilmister). Their brand of high energy rock was the precursor to “thrash” metal.  Also, Lemmy’s voice is so distinctive – deep and gravelly – you know a Motörhead tune the minute you hear it! (Their cover of “Sympathy for the Devil” sounds like Satan himself is singing it!) Sadly, Lemmy passed away in December of 2015, but his music and influence lives on! Continue reading ““From the Trader’s Desk”: Bobby Axelrod – a Man and his Music *UPDATED*”

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”

From The Trader’s Desk: Where Does Your Loyalty Lie? Recapping S3 Ep12 “Elmsley Count”

Is this it? Can this really be the last “From the Trader’s Desk” for this season? Sadly, the answer is yes. I have enjoyed writing about Billions from the “Wall Street” side of things, and hope you’ve enjoyed my posts as well. I also hope I helped with the “fin-speak” and in understanding the world of finance. On a personal note: I didn’t know if I would be able to contribute to FanFun when Billions started in March, after being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma last summer. But, not only did I contribute almost every week, I feel I have done some of my best writing. Thank you Damianista, and everyone who reads our blog for helping me get back to normal!

Instead of a basic recap, I’ll look at the two relationships that were the backbone (from the financial side anyway) of this episode: Axe-Taylor and Taylor-Wendy. I know there was a flurry of “fin-speak” at the Spartan-Ives Capital Introduction Event at CitiField (my second home on many Saturdays!), but I won’t go into details about it. I don’t think they were relevant to the overall episode (as opposed to other times when it was the meat of the story). I have updated the Billions:Glossary with all the definitions, and as always, if there is something you’d like me to explain or give examples of, please let me know. Continue reading “From The Trader’s Desk: Where Does Your Loyalty Lie? Recapping S3 Ep12 “Elmsley Count””

From the Trader’s Desk: Is Axe Ares the God of War? Recapping S3 Ep11 “Kompenso”

Rivals all across the land
He kills them with his knife in hand
He’s the meanest guy around his town
One look and he will cut you down
Johnny Blade – Black Sabbath

Hello and welcome to the second to last week of Billions from the Trader’s Desk. This week I’ll be breaking down “Kompenso” in 3 Acts: Comp Day, The God of War, and Revenge of the Quants.

Before I get into my analysis, I’d just like to say that I love the casting of Patti D’Arbanville as Momma Axelrod. She’s a born and bred NYC girl, and that comes across in her accent and mannerisms playing Axe’s mom. Perfect casting Mr. Koppleman and Mr. Levien! Continue reading “From the Trader’s Desk: Is Axe Ares the God of War? Recapping S3 Ep11 “Kompenso””