Midday commentary: WellPoint flat in active trade; Priceline lower with shares

By Rebecca Melvin

New York, April 10 - Convertibles were trading early Thursday in much the same way they finished out the session the day before, except that some prices slipped in tandem with declines in the underlying stocks, although they were unchanged on a hedged basis.

WellPoint Inc.'s 2.75% convertible bonds due 2042 continued to be a major focus of trade, and those bonds were changing hands little changed. The large investment-grade issue was said to be attracting renewed short interest from hedged players given its valuation.

WellPoint bonds were at 142-ish, according to Trace data. The stock was up 23 cents, or 0.2%, to $97.04.

Meanwhile the convertibles of Intel Corp., International Game Technology and Priceline.com Inc. remained vigorously traded, just as they had been on Wednesday.

Priceline's 1% convertibles due 2018 dropped back to about 143 from about 145, however that move was in tandem with a 2% pullback in the shares. The underlying shares of the Norwalk, Conn.-based online travel services company were down $28.60, or 2.3%, to $1,206.03.

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