Guitar Center shrugs off downgrade; CalRes steady; semiconductor converts swoon on report

By Paul Deckelman

New York, Nov. 29 – Traders in distressed debt and the bonds of otherwise underperforming companies and sectors reported a generally quiet market on Wednesday, noting that many portfolio managers and other investment decision makers were off at the annual Bank of America Merrill Lynch Leveraged Loan Conference going on this week in Boca Raton, Fla.

But there was still activity in the market, particularly in Guitar Center Inc.’s 2019 notes – which moved up in active trading for a second consecutive session despite Moody’s Investors Service having downgraded the musical instrument and performance electronics store chain’s ratings.

Elsewhere, traders saw sizable volume – but precious little price movement – in energy sector bellwether name California Resources Corp., despite a third straight session of lower crude oil prices. Oil and gas sector peers MEG Energy Corp. and Denbury Resources Inc. were lower on the day.

Wireline telecommunications operators Frontier Communications Corp. and CenturyLink, Inc. continued to lose ground.

In the convertibles market, Lam Research Corp.’s 2.65% notes due 2041 and 1.25% converts due 2018 both nosedived during Wednesday’s session amid a selloff in the underlying stocks and the linked converts of memory-chip manufacturers following a bearish research report by Morgan Stanley.

Lam sector peers Micron Technology Inc. and Microchip Technology Inc.’s convertible notes also tumbled during the trading session, as their underlying equity fell.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.