Convertibles lag after crude oil, equities pare sharp losses; Monster Worldwide plunges

By Rebecca Melvin

New York, Feb. 11 – Despite a late-session rebound in oil prices and equities that helped those markets pare sharp losses on Thursday, U.S. convertibles were initially unaffected by the late move, with ongoing pressure on anything risk- and commodity-related and low liquidity.

“High-yield was off again and convertibles were pretty quiet,” a Connecticut-based trader said.

Early Thursday, Priceline Group Inc., Newmont Mining Corp. and Intel Corp. were the most actively traded names. Meanwhile the convertibles of Twitter Inc., which reported quarterly results late Wednesday that sent the common shares lower, were mostly quiet, with a trade at 79, which was down from 80 in the Twitter 1% convertible due 2021, according to Trace data.

Priceline’s 0.9% convertibles due 2021 were little changed at 96.

But among a lot of other names, “there is lots of shock and awe at their marks,” the trader said. Some issues gave in under the pressure and gapped lower on Thursday. Whiting Petroleum Corp.’s convertible bonds were indicated to have traded down to 40 from 44.

Monster Worldwide Inc.’s convertibles plunged after the New York-based employment-services website offered disappointing guidance on its current quarter and shares were downgraded to “market perform” from “outperform” by FBR Capital.

Monster’s 3.5% convertibles due 2019 fell to 82.50 bid, 83 offered from about 105 as shares plunged 36% to $2.72.

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