Roundup: Latest Stories On Icahn-Mickelson-Walters Probe

Some more thoughtful and provocative pieces have appeared now that the world has had time to digest last week's leaked stories to the WSJ and New York Times.

Peter Finch posts a fascinating Q&A with Jim Benjamin, a former federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's office for the Southern District of New York. He's pretty sure the leaks did not come from the FBI or SEC and his explanation of Insider Trading's definition is pretty disturbing (in that even the experts can't point to a simple explanation under the law).

Sometimes as a part of investigations, agents will approach witnesses intentionally when they’re not expecting it. From the government’s perspective, this can be helpful, because they may be more candid when their guard is down. On the other hand, after he finished his round at the Memorial? I don’t understand that.

The SWJ's Alexandra Bergon takes a closer look at Billy Walters and you understand why he's probably the center of the entire investigaton.

Sports-betting legend William "Billy" Walters built a fortune by acquiring better information than others and using a complex system to turn it into profits.

"He is the most respected sports bettor in the world," said RJ Bell, who runs a website selling sports-betting picks. "One of the things that differentiates him is the quality of the information that he's betting."

John Tamny at Forbes (thanks reader Bob) says "to the extent that Mickelson traded on information that originated with Icahn, he’s a hero for having so done so."

Applied to Mickelson, assuming the allegations about his trading history are true, the fact that he may have utilized Icahn’s expertise means that he provided the marketplace with essential information. Icahn is a genius, and while there are vague laws concerning “insider trading,” Mickelson’s presumed trades brought precious knowledge to the marketplace. What should bother readers are not the allegations concerning Mickelson, but instead insider trading laws that in the words of George Gilder blind the marketplace. How odd that we have laws that are explicit in their intent to deprive the marketplace of information that allegedly came from one of the world’s greatest investors.