What do PGA star Phil Mickelson and activist investor Carl Icahn have in common? Apparently, a love of Clorox (CLX). News broke this weekend that Lefty and Carl Icahn — along with sports bookie Billy Walters — are currently being investigated by the FBI and SEC about possible insider trading of CLX shares. Mickelson has denied the allegations, while Icahn does “not know about any investigation.” Here’s Evan Perez & Shimon Prokupecz at CNN Money with the details.
Dealbook (Alexandra Stevenson): Speaking of Carl Icahn, he actually has run a pretty clean ship in terms of operating his funds. However, he insider trading probe could mire his legacy.
Bloomberg View (Matt Levine): Carl Icahn’s main vehicle — hedge funds — are bemoaned for their insanely high fees and chronic underperformance. Still, it doesn’t mean that those who invest in them are fools.
FT.com (Tanya Powley): China is now the world’s leading buyer of industrial robots in an effort to regain its manufacturing title. Skynet can’t be far behind.
The Atlantic (Tanya Basu): China’s also the reason why your burgers and hot dogs will be more expensive this summer. (Well, China and widespread disease.) Hold the mustard.
ETF Trends (Tom Lydon): Bill Gross isn’t the only bond superstar around. State Street (STT) and Jeffrey Gundlach’s DoubleLine Capital LP will launch an active strategic bond ETF. Gundlach has been outperforming Gross by a wide margin as of late. Take that, PIMCO!
Investing.com (Tiho Brkan): Commodities and natural resource equities continue to be some of the cheapest plays in the market.
Pragmatic Capitalism (Cullen Roche): Want a bullish sign that the economy is still rocking? Check the transports. Rail intermodal traffic is still surging.
Quartz (Matt Philips): Guess what? Americans aren’t really buying too many new cars, but we are renting them in spades. Leasing activity is up, up, up!
The Guardian (Charles Arthur): Mac-heads unite! Apple’s (AAPL) Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) starts today. Expect new products and a concert by Dr. Dre thanks to the recent Beats buyout.
