Whiting Petroleum, energy sector better on swap; tech in line; Heartware convertibles drop

By Rebecca Melvin

New York, Oct. 13 – U.S. convertibles trading activity picked up as many bond market players returned to work from a three-day weekend in observance of Columbus Day.

Convertibles energy names were generally better.

Whiting Petroleum Corp.’s convertibles were better on swap by a point or more as shares of the Denver-based oil and gas company extended losses, slipping another 89 cents, or 4.4%, to $19.27 on top of a 10% drop on Monday.

Chesapeake Energy Corp., was also better on the day, a New York-based trader said. Although the only Chesapeake convertible issue that was trading actively was the 2.25% bonds, which changed hands at 73, traders said.

Technology was also a focus ahead of Intel Corp.’s quarterly results, which revealed after the market close earnings that were better than estimated, but still slightly lower year over year amid ongoing weakness in its PC business.

The salesforce.com Inc. convertibles traded mostly in step with shares of the San Francisco-based cloud computing company. The company announced a $100 million investment commitment in European startups from Salesforce Venues, the intention of which is to fuel cloud innovation and customer success.

Health care was doing OK on Tuesday, a New York-based trader said. But HeartWare International Inc.’s convertibles took a leg lower as shares plunged 20% after the medical-device maker disclosed that it may not reinitiate enrollment in MVAD ventricular assist heart pump clinical trials in November as previously expected.

© 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.