Morning Commentary; Convertible bond trading limited as quarter kicks off; Tesla rises on shipments

By Stephanie N. Rotondo

Seattle, April 3 – The first trading session of the second quarter was starting out to be a quiet one, a trader said.

At mid-morning, total trading volume was $79 million – a majority of which was taken up by Tesla Inc., the trader said.

For its part, Tesla was active – and better – after the Palo Alto, Calif.-based car manufacturer said it had shipped over 25,000 in the first quarter of 2017.

That was better than the shipments of 24,200 that analysts had forecast.

Furthermore, the number of deliveries puts Tesla over halfway toward its goal of shipping 50,000 cars in the first six months of the year.

The 2.375% convertible notes due 2022 were seen expanding 3.5 points outright, trading in a 107.5 to 108 context.

“The stock is up $13.00, so that would explain that [gain],” a trader said. Equal to an equity gain of nearly 5%, he said the bonds were “tracking properly.”

As for the 0.25% convertible notes due 2019, they were “just shy” of 102, the trader reported.

He noted that parity on that issue was around 81.

Of the vehicles delivered, 13,450 were Model S sedans and 11,550 were Model X sport utility vehicles. Total production during the quarter was 25,418 vehicles.

Among convertible preferred stocks, FelCor Lodging Trust Inc.’s series A cumulative convertible preferreds (NYSE: FCHPrA) was better, though on no fresh news.

The convertible preferreds were up 12 cents in early dealings, trading at $24.50.

© 2015 Prospect News.
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