Notes on - Billions: Short Squeeze

 

Short Squeeze notes

Greenwich, CT 4 am

Drunk and with a rifle.  That’s not great.

Ah, he’s shooting at deer

This is the guy who was complaining that he’d lost hos mojo

The cops would not get there that quickly

I like how they baance out Paul Giamatti and Damien Lewis’ names

I do believe that Axe got there that quickly though. And that he could buy the guy out of trouble

Axe: What drives you doesn’t understand enough

It is very frustrating when animals eat your plants

Uh oh. Wendy’s spotted Pete Decker and is putting the pieces together

Axe successfully wiped the record of the gunfire incident

Mick Danzig

Chuck is really squeezing Pete’s mom and dad

And just like that Pete folds and tells them everything about Axe capital

Are those real cheesesteak places that I should know about?

Muffee got a competing job offer and went to Axe to tell him about it

So we’re getting little vignette scenes of Axe demonstrating the qualities that Decker is describing in his monologue

What circumstance is neccestating the phone call and who is Constantine

Oh, it was just to tell him that Metallica is playing in Quebec

Must be nice to have a private jet

Crossco trucking? What’s Axe up to getting the contract canceling?

Oh, he’s using his YumTime connection to manipulate the contract with their trucking company so that he can short the trucking company stock.  That can’t be legal, no wonder he’s doing it at arms length and started the move before he got on the board.

Axe: It’s like your wife says. Hold the fucking position until I tell you that I’m done.

Information comes from everywhere to Axe

Ah, Charles Rhoades sr. playing golf

What is a short squeeze?

So Charles is going to try to ruin Axe’s trucking short

They used to box in the other guy’s basement

Axe was distracting them while he shot the moon

Not sure that I understand the discussion of the bankers who cover buying on the margins

And I definitely don’t understand the short squeeze.

Ah, they explained that the bankers cover debt short term so that they could then turn and show us one of his bankers not doing that thanks to Charles Sr.

So now Axe has to find people he can sell the shares to – hedge funds, otherwise he has to pay full price for them by opening next day

Tara Mohr is snooping around the Pete Decker deposition

Kate isn’t fooled by her for a moment, or course

Charles is making the stock go up and Axe wants them to go down.  That’s what Decker meant by someone is always coming for the king

Weed candy

A mention of Augusta golf course is all it took for Axe to click that Charles Rhoades is behind it.  That felt a little contrived.

Vista Verde?

Tara already got back to Wetwork guy about Decker and now Axe wants to use that knowledge to undercut decker… somehow?

I’m so glad Kate busted Tara this quickly.  Speaks well of her and I’m tired of that plotline

And now Chuck knows about Tara and is planning to use her as a blind with Tara as a Judas Goat

Oh, to Charles planted a rumor that the trucking company was about to get bought out by a larger company.  That’s why the stocks are going up

Charles: Of course I’m watching it. I’m bathing in it

Wetwork guy has now roped Ari Spyros into the mix to investigate the Crossco rumors and hopefully get the stock shorted again

Metallica is getting set up

There’s very deliberately showing us that the other three guys are cruising for chicks but Bobby isn’t.  He’s loyal

Axe:  Well, you can’t beat a classic.  Friends.  Cars. Music.

Woman whose name I’ll look up: New things can be fun too

***  Sometimes you just have to make the change blindly and pray that it all goes well.

Ah.  Elise.  She’s the opening act

She’s singing Ratt.  Is she a real singer?

She can’t believe that Axe just walked away while she’s singing

Axe is trying to borrow more shares from somebody he doesn’t like

James Hatfield?

And now a little gratuitous Metallica jamming

Ari now knows that Charles is ‘fluffing’ Costco stock

Going after Chuck’s father.  There’s some poetic irony

And now Chuck knows that his dad is doing illegal things to short Axe’s squeeze

Ari does not deserve respect. But he does have Chuck over a barrel in the same way that Chuck has Decker

Chuck: Dad.  I know. Do not make another phone call tonight. Do not go on the internet. Do not call your broker, or make a trade, or do one fucking thing until I see you. First thing in the morning.  And the only words I want to hear you say are ‘Ok son.’ And then the phone going dead.

Charles: Ok son.

Banker Guy: This isn’t coming from me Axe.  (Silence) Axe?

Wags: (to Axe) I hung up on the little tool.

Hall is meeting Tara Nohr.  This is a setup

Did Hall sense the double cross?  Is he avoiding it?

Axe is missing the whole concert.  That makes me a little sad

Oh, it’s southern handjob guy that Axe convinced to stay with his fund.  He heard about the short squeeze and is worried

Axe: You want to stay, stay. You want to pull, then tell me in the morning.  But either way, get off my dick.

Yup, Hall figured out he was being led into a trap and avoided it.  The last thing he learned was that is was Decker that flipped

Hey, It’s Elise.  And she was upset that Axe walked out on her warmup set

Axe is missing the whole concert

Axe and Elise are a lot of fun together.  I like their dynamic

Elise:  Don’t go all Charles Foster Kane on me.

Axe: You know, I’ve never seen it?

I really love how straight up Axe is about the fact that he’s married and loves his wife and also how cool Elise is about respecting that.  They’re acting like actual adults

That whole scene is amazing

Axe gave Decker seed money to start his own firm

So, Chuck’s case was all about Axe telling Decker to buy Pepsum Pharmaceuticals and Axe never told him to do that?

Oh, so it was a message from “dollar” Bill Stearn that told him

This is all very Bobby Axlerod as Kaiser Zose

And now Chuck is onto the trail of Dollar Bill

So what’s actually going on with Constantine?  Was he not just calling about the Metallica tickets?

What did Fred fuck up?

Ah, Fred jumped on Crostco short

That’s the second Rocky reference.  I’ve never seen those.

Fred’s getting screwed by the same fate Bobby just dodged.

$210,000 seems low for this show

*** I don’t hold onto a loser.

Not much Wendy in this episode

Good on Chuck to come clean with Wendy about Decker without prompting

Wendy:  There were a hundred legitimate things that you could have said.  Including, ‘I can’t talk about it.’

Oh, so Charles was a slum lord who had a building burn down, derailing his own ambition.

Axe really does love Lara

Axe deliberately left Jeff behind as punishment

But he did save Jeff from the short squeeze

Charles Sr. is unrepentant for his illegal trading

Chuck is making his father lose money

Charles wants Chuck to get Axe in revenge for his own shit.

It’s nice to see Charles Sr. lose a little

Axe made 15 million on his short

Axe is seeing his employees like Danzig was seeing the deer

Why is Axe dumping everything.  He wants people to think he’s out?