Junk liquidity at a trickle; telecom notes in focus; NexStar, CCO Holdings tumble

By Paul A. Harris and Abigail W. Adams

Portland, Me., Sept. 1 – Liquidity in the junk bond secondary space slowed to a trickle on Friday with large swaths of the market sitting out the session, as expected, leading into the Labor Day weekend in the United States.

While trading activity was muted, the market continued to cheer on macro data that supported the soft-landing narrative the Federal Reserve has espoused and the market has been skeptical of since the outset of the Fed’s rate-hike campaign.

The latest U.S. nonfarm payroll report was largely regarded as the goldilocks report the Fed had hoped for with the labor market cooling but not enough to raise recession concerns.

However, as has been the trend for much of the week, the market was strong following the report’s release, but selling set in midsession with the market closing the day well off the highs, a source said.

While trading activity was light, telecoms were in focus following news of more carriage disputes in the industry.

Charter Communications, Inc. subsidiary CCO Holdings, LLC’s senior notes (B1/BB-) fell 1 to 2 points following news that Disney was blocking Charter’s Spectrum customers from certain channels over a fee dispute.

Nexstar Media Group Inc.’s 4¾% senior notes due 2028 (B2/BB+) were among the largest losers of the session with the notes tumbling 2 points to give back all gains made over the past few sessions and close the week largely unchanged.

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