Morning Commentary: Convertibles primary silent; j2 Global notes active in early trading

By Abigail W. Adams

Portland, Me., July 30 – The convertibles primary market was again silent early Thursday with the July 27 week poised to be the first week with no new issuance since the primary market reopened in April following March’s sell-off.

While the primary market took a breather over the past week, the lull in activity is expected to be temporary with several sources indicating there was a full pipeline.

The floodgates are expected to open in August pending market conditions.

Meanwhile, the secondary space was equally quiet early Thursday as equities launched the day deep in the red following a slew of negative economic data.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 397 points or 1.48%, the S&P 500 index was down 1.11% and the Nasdaq composite was down 0.59% shortly before 11 a.m. ET.

The GDP shrank 9.5% in the second quarter, which equates to the steepest annualized decline since 1947, and unemployment claims increased for the second straight week, Bloomberg reported.

j2 Global Inc.’s 1.75% convertible notes due 2026 were active early in the session with the notes continuing to trend lower on an outright basis as stock again set a new 52-week low.

The 1.75% notes were down about 0.5 point outright to 75.375.

There was $10 million in reported volume about one hour into the session.

j2 stock continued to trade off on Thursday after setting a new 52-week low in the previous session.

Stock traded to a low of $53.24 but bounced off their lows to change hands at $54.59, a decrease of 1.57%, shortly before 11 a.m. ET.

While the notes mostly trade outright, some of the notes are up on hedge, a source previously said.

j2 Global was the subject of a short-seller report from Hindenburg Research in late June, which alleged the technology company had some dubious acquisitions which enriched insiders.

© 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.