Morning Commentary: Energy names show resilience as oil heads back down; Acorda Therapeutics weaker

By Rebecca Melvin

New York, March 15 – Energy names were a focus in U.S. convertibles early Tuesday as oil prices were heading back down and as the equity markets slipped.

The usual energy suspects were under watch, including Whiting Petroleum Corp., which was a touch weaker, and the convertibles of Chesapeake Energy Corp., which were essentially unchanged. The Chesapeake bonds have “held in pretty well,” and “people think that there is some upside for the 2017 maturities,” a Connecticut-based trader said.

Elsewhere, Acorda Therapeutics Inc.’s 1.75% convertibles due 2021 dropped another point to about 92 after having plunged 11 points on Monday.

Shares of the Ardsley, N.Y.-based spinal cord and nervous system therapeutics company were down another $1.00, or 3%, to $28.60. Since Thursday, shares are down 21%.

The convertibles and shares have dropped after news that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Patent Trials and Appeal Board has instituted the inter partes review of four out of five Orange Book-listed patents that apply to Acorda’s Ampyra extended release tablets, a novel treatment for multiple sclerosis.

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