Primary dormant; secondary space soft; healthcare, energy sectors under pressure; Tenet drops

By Paul A. Harris and Abigail W. Adams

Portland, Me., Dec. 17 – The week began with continued silence from the domestic primary market – silence, which is expected to persist into the new year, making December the first month in more than a decade to see $0 in new issuance.

Meanwhile trading volume was light in the secondary space, which is also a trend that is expected to persist for the remainder of December.

While volume was light, the space was heavy on Monday with equity markets sinking further into the red and crude oil futures settling below $50.

Energy names continued to dominate trade in the secondary space with junk bonds from California Resources Corp., Chesapeake Energy Corp., EP Energy and Diamond Offshore Drilling trading down during Monday’s session.

While the overall market was soft, the health care sector was particularly heavily hit with investors nervous following a ruling from a federal judge in Texas which found the Affordable Care Act unconstitutional.

Tenet Healthcare Corp.’s 6¾% senior notes due 2023 were the most actively traded issue in the secondary space with the notes down 2 points.

Community Health Systems’ 6¼% senior notes due 2023 and Hospital Corp. of America’s 6½% senior notes due 2020 were also under pressure in active trading.

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