I really liked the pilot. Had a mix of influences from Cohen, Ackman, Icahn, etc. The plot is appealing and accessible to any background and the technical/backdrop is accurate and well researched so it appeals to the finance nerds. It's a good mix of merger arb talk coupled with secret meetings, fingerprint safes, and bravado. Giamatti is great as always.
It reminded me of Cohen, spitzer, and bonfire of the vanities. Surprisingly gripping without relying on cheap tricks (like entourage did)
I also liked the pilot and the main character is based on Michael Milken if there is a real life equivalent of him...
damn rally good point, i'm 8 minutes in and love it! having some of the show in westport, ct is a bonus, lol
Figured you'd like it. Right in your back yard. I'm curious to see where the plot goes later in the season. I hope they show more of Axelrod's daily activities and develop the office characters and not turn the show into a legal drama with a sex twist.
Yes, beyond bad--- just a stupid stupid show-- i was very disappointed as i thought it might be decent. surf
Frm https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/secrets-billions-james-altucher?trk=v-feed Sent from my iPhone Wall Street is crooked. This is not really a surprise to anyone. I lived on the street. And I worked on the street. Wall Street starts at broadway and continues down to Water Street. Along the way, it gets crooked. Right around Broad Street it starts to curve. If you are standing at one end of Wall Street and try to look at the other end, you won’t see it. It’s crooked. It jags. It turns a little. People walk back and forth daydreaming about getting rich. Others are crying because they couldn’t make it. And if you can’t make it there, as the song sort of goes, you can’t make it anywhere. Which is really true. Because “there” is where the money is. And people get desperate around money. So desperate they will do anything to get it. At one point I invested in a dozen hedge funds. Eleven of them ended up being caught doing illegal activity. I think a few people are in jail. Every night I was scared because I started to see what was going on until eventually I shut the whole thing down. My investors were very upset I shut things down when things were going well. This was in mid-2006. By 2009 I finally got my money back from all of them. That’s how desperately Wall Street tries to hold onto your money. I thought Wall Street was a quick way out. But it was a quick way to stress and misery. I got out. I stayed out. “BILLIONS” the new show on Showtime is the first show that I think accurately describes what is going on on this tiny street. But there’s a lot of terminology in the show and I thought I would explain some areas. This is to say, I’m about to have spoilers. So don’t read further if you are a purist. Watch the show. I may do this after future shows as well if you like this post. At a basic level, the show is about a “hedge fund manager”, Bobby Axelrod, played by Damian Lewis, and a US Attorney, Chuck Rhodes, played by Paul Giamatti. I put “hedge fund manager” in quotes because it’s a term I’m about to explain. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/secrets-billions-james-altucher?trk=v-feed Sent from my iPhone