Opening Bell: 6.21.16
Ackman releases new Herbalife video (Reuters)
Billionaire investor William Ackman revved up his campaign against Herbalife on Monday as investors await the outcome of a U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) probe into the business practices of the nutritional supplements maker. Ackman's hedge fund, Pershing Square Capital Management, released a video on Monday that it said illustrated what Ackman has called Herbalife's predatory recruiting practices. Ackman said it is the first in a series of videos that he will release this week on his website www.factsaboutherbalife.com...Ackman has waged a four-year campaign against Herbalife, making a $1 billion short bet against it in 2012 and accusing it of running a pyramid scheme which pays members more for recruiting new members than for selling the company's supplements and weight-loss products.
Soros sees Russia emerging as global power as EU fades (Reuters)
Billionaire investor George Soros said on Monday he saw Russia emerging as a global power as the European Union collapses, in much the same way as the EU flourished when the Soviet Union started falling.
Ex-Morgan Stanley CEO warns about the biggest risk he sees to markets (CNBC)
John Mack, former chairman and CEO of Morgan Stanley, told CNBC on Monday he sees "geopolitical risk" as the biggest threat to global prosperity and financial markets. "Hopefully, nothing happens. But there's a lot of turmoil, whether it's in the Middle East ... North Korea ... or China and their [disputed] islands," Mack said on "Squawk Box," citing the risk of a "geopolitical blow-up" as his top concern. "All it takes is for one person to make a mistake. And then you have a global event," he added in a wide-ranging interview that included his thoughts on the United Kingdom vote Thursday on whether to stay in the European Union trading block.
Wilbur Ross Says Brexit Would Spark Most Expensive Divorce Ever (Bloomberg)
U.S. billionaire Wilbur Ross said a British vote to leave the European Union would be the “most expensive divorce proceeding in the history of the world” with the potential to roil global markets and hurt his investment in the country. A so-called Brexit through a referendum on Thursday “would be terrible” for sterling as well as U.K., European and U.S. markets, Ross, chairman of private-equity firm WL Ross & Co., said in an interview with Bloomberg Television’s Guy Johnson and Caroline Hyde. However, the veteran investor said he was going long on the U.K. because “the British public would come to its senses and not make this very foolhardy decision to leave.”
Memphis police searching for woman who stole stripper pole (NYDN)
The Memphis Police Department is asking for the public’s help in locating a suspected stripper pole-thief in Tennessee. A woman in a T-shirt and jeans shorts was caught on camera hauling a $364 stripper pole out of Christal’s, an adult store outside of Memphis. “We’ve received several tips and we’re still working on it,” a police spokesman told the Daily News.
Wall Street cash or Elizabeth Warren: Hillary's choice (CNBC)
"If Clinton picked Warren, her whole base on Wall Street would leave her," one top Democratic donor who has helped raise millions for Clinton told me. "They would literally just say, 'We have no qualms with you moving left, we understand all the things you've had to do because of Bernie Sanders, but if you are going there with Warren, we just can't trust you, you've killed it.'"
Too-tough capital rules may stifle U.S. lending: Fed's Kashkari (Reuters)
The U.S. banking system needs deep reform to prevent a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis and Wall Street firms should hold more capital to brace against economic shocks, said Kashkari, who was a Treasury Department official under the George W. Bush administration. But regulators must be mindful that forcing banks to hold capital means those institutions may have less money to lend, Kashkari told the Peterson Institute for International Economics.
Chipotle executives face shareholder lawsuit alleging insider trading (BizJournals)
The suit filed in Denver District Court, alleges that certain Chipotle executives and board members sold off shares of company stock in advance of the illness outbreaks that sickened some customers and sent the company’s shares plunging. It also alleges that various Chipotle leaders “dealt themselves excessive compensation worth hundreds of millions of dollars through a corrupt stock incentive plan” at the expense of shareholders and the company itself.
Millennials reignite long-dead RV market (NYP)
It’s called “glamping” — camping in glamorous fashion — and purchases by millennials, with an elder limit of 35, are helping re-ignite RV sales, insiders said. While RV sales in the US have increased seven straight years — since 2010, the year after the Great Recession ended — the growth had been slowing for three years until millennials stepped into the breach this year.
Police probe car with trunk load of bees (UPI)
Fitchburg police responded Sunday to a report of a large number of bees swarming in the Normandy Road area and officers arrived to discover someone had apparently placed bee hives in the trunk of a parked vehicle. A woman was stung on the nose when the trunk was opened, but did not require medical attention, police said. Beekeepers were summoned to the scene and were seen removing the hives from the vehicle's trunk while dressed in full protective gear. Police said the bees are believed to have been intentionally placed in the trunk of the car. An investigation has been opened to determine whether the bees were intended to harm the owner of the vehicle.