Tag: Billions

Previously on Billions: Season 2, Episode 7 “Victory Lap”

Bruno comes down stairs with a baseball bat in hand to meet his uninvited guests to find it is Bobby and Hall who are here to pick him up so they can go visit Marco. Marco feels sick, partly because Sandicot has not received the gaming licence and partly because Hall is intimidating him by his mere presence. Axe is playing hard ball with him too.

source: Showtime

Chuck is playing ball with Kevin in the Park, but this is a photo opportunity for him as Dimonda appears for the first time this season. Dimonda questions Chuck on his next step as he has little else to achieve as USA.

Chef Ryan also makes an appearance in this episode and what an appearance. Caught at it on the sun loungers by the Axelrod family, Lara and Bobby read him the riot act, but Axe concedes that Lara has pardoned him after she responds “lucky you” to his answers to her questions. Anyone else think Lara just didn’t want to suffer Bobby’s cooking. Continue reading “Previously on Billions: Season 2, Episode 7 “Victory Lap””

Previously on Billions: Season 2, Episode 6 “Indian Four”

Axe is waiting in the back of Boyd’s Limo, Boyd having paid the $5 mil bail. Axe tells Boyd that Rhoades will flip one of his men and Boyd replies that he already has. Axe tells him to let Hall do the necessary.

source: Showtime

Ira is meeting with Chuck, who does not want to tell Wendy how bad matters are in relation to the lawsuits. Ira suggests Chuck sells the house, but Chuck is not for it.

Boyd has a night time rendezvous with Hall, who makes the arrangements for bribing the witness who is co-operating with Chuck. It isn’t pretty. Continue reading “Previously on Billions: Season 2, Episode 6 “Indian Four””

Previously on Billions: Season 2, Episode 5 “Currency”

Wags arrives at Axe Capital, parking his car right outside the front door and walking with purpose towards Bobby’s office. He ignores the greetings of others and heads in to face Bobby’s “clean” test. Wags starts to speak seriously, but is cut off by Bobby before he can be heard. Bobby is unimpressed with whatever is going on with Wags and where he has been for the last 48 hours because Bobby has been fighting yet another battle.

source: Showtime

48 hours earlier…there is a celebration outside of Sansomic. It does not last long though as the genius behind it goes home, walks through his front door and then right out of his window. This sounds brutal and it is, because that is exactly how they shot it. It was a horrible moment. In and out.

Mafee is seen hurtling towards Axe’s office declaring “Axe, we are f****d” but Axe is not there to hear about Sansomic’s catastrophe.

Axe is meeting with Nicky and second son, Gordy is introduced to him. First impressions of Gordy in the Pilot were that it was he, not the eldest child, Dean, who was an Axelrod mini me. Those first impressions appear to be right. He certainly knows only suckers bet when they don’t know how it will end. Perhaps the writers are going with the idea that the second child (of two) is the most daring.

Axe is talking to Nicky about whispers he has heard about a Casino. Gordy reappears with Axe’s phone because “it is blowing up”. Boyd is calling about the Sansomic stock and Sam Brandt from Street Scoop want Bobby on her show which is bad news. He has three days to fix this.

source: Showtime

Continue reading “Previously on Billions: Season 2, Episode 5 “Currency””

From the Trader’s Desk: S2E5 “Currency”

“This is some fucked up universe we’ve decided to live in.”
source: Showtime

And with that, I welcome you to “From the Trader’s Desk” and my take on Episode 5, “Currency”.

There was a lot going on in this episode: currency plays, rising interest rates, 15 bips on the 10 yr.  Things that I don’t think twice about, but may need a bit of explaining to some of our readers. I’ll do my best. As always, if there is something I don’t cover, just ask! Currency trading is not something I do at all. I stick with domestic equities. However, I do have to know a little about it, since currency, and interest rates can (and do) effect the overall markets.

This was a unfamiliar Axe in “Currency“. He was taking risks he wouldn’t normally take, all because he didn’t want to have a down quarter. It clouded his vision, and his outlook in my opinion. He was willing to risk so much, just to not have one misstep. It reminded me of a classic mistake gamblers on a losing streak make: doubling down. I have it seen firsthand: down $500 on the 1:00 PM NFL bets, you try to recoup that and more by placing bigger bets on the 4:00 PM games. If you win, you can get even or maybe pull ahead; but if you lose, now you’re down $1,100 (when you bet with a bookie, you have to pay a “vig” of $5 on every $50 you lose). It’s a risk, and that is what gambling is, but it’s not a smart risk. As Axe says “Who makes a bet if they don’t know the outcome? Suckers!” Continue reading “From the Trader’s Desk: S2E5 “Currency””

Previously on Billions Season 2, Episode 4 “The Oath”

Wendy is being shown around a space station. She is to do a psychological evaluation of an astronaut, Elena.

Axe is meeting with Mark Cuban who gives Axe some advice drop the vendetta against the US Attorney and focus on winning hearts and minds today because Axe is otherwise too loud for the NFL.

source: Showtime

The AG’s new assistant is in NY to check on progress of the Spartan Ives case and let Chuck know how precarious his situation is.

Axe calls Sanford Besinger who interestingly calls Axe, Robert. Wendy might say it just means that he knows his given name, but I say it means a very comfortable familiarity.

Continue reading “Previously on Billions Season 2, Episode 4 “The Oath””