Tag: Billions

From the Trader’s Desk: The Best of Frenemies – Billions S4 E3

You’ll take my life but I’ll take yours too
You’ll fire your musket but I’ll run you through
So when you’re waiting for the next attack
You’d better stand there’s no turning back
The Trooper – Iron Maiden

Hello from the Trader’s Desk! This week, everyone is waiting for the next attack, be it from a friend, an enemy, or a chicken!

As seems to be the new normal, The War Council (Axe, Wags, Wendy) discussing taking down Taylor and TMC. Hall is not having the easiest time getting into TMC security. His counterpart there is someone whom Hall says “is a good man” and “thorough”. (Could Cook have been one of Hall’s minions at one time?) Hall is going to have to earn his paycheck on this assignment. He comes bearing a gift – a thumbdrive with TMC’s positions and trading patterns! It’s not the MOAB  Axe needs, but he can use the info to front-run TMC and take a little of their alpha. Wendy has a better idea: really go big on positions TMC wants to increase, taking a lot of little pieces of profit. Taylor will notice, and because they are such a perfectionist, will try to figure out the problem, taking them off their game. This is where Wendy has value: not knowing the market or stocks, but knowing the way Taylor thinks. Even Hall is impressed by Wendy! Continue reading “From the Trader’s Desk: The Best of Frenemies – Billions S4 E3”

The Unbeatable, Unstoppable, Unparalleled MVPs from Billions Season 4 Episode 3

Welcome back to our ‘Billions MVP Fanbook,’ a compilation post commemorating all those in honor of achievement for the utmost brazen, uber shameless, ultra scheming, unmatched bad asses to date – from sports references, music, and tasty food to pop culture remarks, shocking twists and ultimate paybacks.

In case you missed our previous awards, here is season four episode one and episode two. Now, let us continue with that tradition as we award our Most Valuable Players (MVPs) this week.

Here are our Billions awards for Season 4, Episode 3, “Chickentown.”

Continue reading “The Unbeatable, Unstoppable, Unparalleled MVPs from Billions Season 4 Episode 3”

From the Trader’s Desk: Runnin’ with The Devil – Billions S4 E2

I live my life like there’s no tomorrow
And all I’ve got, I had to steal
Least I don’t need to beg or borrow
Yes I’m livin’ at a pace that kills
Runnin’ With the Devil – Van Halen

Greetings from the Trader’s Desk! I’m going to do things a bit different today. Instead of doing an in-depth recap (my partner in crime Damianista has done an amazing one), I’ll be giving my observations of the various relationships we saw this week. Also, on a good news front, I’ll be having surgery to remove my chemo port this week, and I’ll be on the disabled list for a day or so, so this will have to be a bit condensed. As always, if there is some “fin-speak” you need explained, please let me know!

I want to start with an explanation of what Private Equity is, since it was a big part of the Axe/Rebecca storyline. Private equity is composed of funds and investors that directly invest in private companies. For example, if a firm or an individual invested in Uber (a private company) they will have gotten in early, before the company goes public and IPOs. These investors now have a percentage (or shares) in the company. When the company does go public, the investment could have increased significantly, and now the shares can be sold publicly. Investing in private equity is not a guarantee – sometimes you need to kiss a lot of frogs before you get your Prince! Continue reading “From the Trader’s Desk: Runnin’ with The Devil – Billions S4 E2”

The Unbeatable, Unstoppable, Unparalleled MVPs from Billions Season 4 Episode 2

Last week we introduced you to our ‘Billions MVP Fanbook,’ a compilation  post commemorating all those in honor of achievement for the utmost brazen, uber shameless, ultra scheming, unmatched bad asses to date – from sports references, music, and tasty food to pop culture remarks, shocking twists and ultimate paybacks. Let us continue with that tradition as we award our Most Valuable Players (MVPs) this week.

Here are our Billions awards for Season 4, Episode 2, “Arousal Template.”

Continue reading “The Unbeatable, Unstoppable, Unparalleled MVPs from Billions Season 4 Episode 2”

Damian Lewis on The Moment with
Brian Koppelman

When he’s not running a show, co-creator of Billions, Brian Koppelman hosts a podcast called The Moment. Each hour-long session is a conversation about the creative process and pivotal moments in creative careers. Koppelman talks to people in various forms and stages of their creative lives about inflection points, the moments they sensed something shifted for them in their careers. Having listened to several of these conversations in his archive, its always a treat to hear how people get to live their professional dreams, be they restaurateurs, musicians, writers or actors. Back when he first publicized the podcast, I had this twee Twitter exchange with him.

On Tuesday, last week, it finally happened: Damian sat down with Kopp to talk shop. You can listen to this episode of The Moment wherever you listen to podcasts. (Links below)

It is a truth universally acknowledged (at least on these pages) that, with Damian, there is more than what meets the eye. Likewise, there’s more to be said than what you hear, especially when interviews go deep like this one did. I wrote about another longer interview on the subject of creativity: SAG-AFTRA.  This podcast covered similar ground, but touched on some things we’d never heard before. So, here’s a bit of reading between the lines of some highlights from The Moment.

Continue reading “Damian Lewis on The Moment with Brian Koppelman”