Whiting Petroleum plunges 60 points; Booking Holdings active; Snap comes in

By Abigail W. Adams

Portland, Me., March 9 – Monday will be a day that is long remembered on Wall Street.

On the 11th anniversary of the bull market, cratering oil futures sparked a full-blown sell-off in equities, which temporarily halted stock trading as indexes plunged more than 7% shortly after the opening bell.

“It’s a crazy day,” a market source said.

When trading resumed, equities were down a little over 5%, which some saw as an encouraging sign.

While markets held that level through the early afternoon, they again turned south heading into the market close.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed the day down 2013.76 points or 7.79%, the S&P 500 closed the day down 7.6%, and the Nasdaq composite closed the day down 7.29%.

As markets were thrown into turmoil, volume was relatively light in the convertible secondary space.

There was $27 million in reported volume about one hour into the session and $488 million shortly before the market close.

“Everyone’s working on their deltas,” a market source said.

While the convertible secondary space was soft amid the sell-off with outright accounts hard hit, there was still buying activity, especially in short-duration and investment-grade paper, sources said.

Booking Holdings Inc.’s convertible notes were among the major volume movers of Monday’s session with the notes down outright.

Snap Inc.’s 0.75% convertible notes due 2026 were also active with the notes down on an outright and dollar-neutral basis.

Whiting Petroleum Corp.’s 1.25% convertible notes due April 1, 2020 plunged 60 points on Monday with the market now believing a bankruptcy filing is imminent.

While the convertible primary market has been active for the past few weeks despite the market volatility, sources were not expecting to see much of a calendar until markets stabilize.

Booking Holdings active

Booking Holdings’ convertible notes were among the major volume movers of Monday’s session with short-duration and investment-grade paper in demand.

The 0.9% convertible notes due 2021 were down about 1 point outright heading into the market close.

They were changing hands at 107.5 versus a stock price of $1,555.36, according to a market source.

While there were only six trades on the tape shortly before the market close, the bonds saw about $20.6 million in reported volume.

Booking Holdings’ 0.35% convertible notes due 2020 were down about 4 points outright.

The notes were changing hands at 121.5 versus a stock price of $1,532.18 shortly before the market close.

There was about $28.5 million in reported volume shortly before the market close.

There was a large seller in the market, a source said.

Booking Holdings’ stock traded to a high of $1,588.67 and a low of $1,476.51 before closing the day at $1,527.80, a decrease of 5.23%.

Snap comes in

Snap’s 0.75% convertible notes due 2026 also saw high-volume activity with the notes trading off on an outright and dollar-neutral basis.

The 0.75% notes were down almost 5 points to 93.125 in the late afternoon.

They contracted about 0.5 point dollar-neutral.

The bonds saw about $17 million in reported volume during Monday’s session.

Snap stock traded to a high of $12.13 and a low of $11 before closing the day at $11.45, a decrease of 11.92%.

Whiting Petroleum plunges

Whiting Petroleum’s 1.25% convertible notes due April 1, 2020 plunged 60 points with the market now expecting the Denver, Colo.-based oil company to file for bankruptcy.

While volume was light, the 1.25% convertible notes plummeted to the low 20s on Monday.

The notes were active last Friday and traded off 9 points outright to the low 80s.

They were in the low 90s at the beginning of last week.

Whiting Petroleum’s straight debt also plummeted 20 to 30 points on Monday.

The convertible notes mature in less than three weeks and the company has only about $8 million in cash on the books, a market source said.

“The senior bondholders won’t let it [the convertible note] get paid off. They may have to file,” the source said.

WTI crude oil futures settled at $31.13, a decrease of $10.15, or 24.59% and Brent crude oil futures settled at $34.36, a decrease of $10.91 or 24.1%.

It was the single largest drop in crude oil futures since the 1991 Gulf War.

Futures plummeted on Monday as Saudi Arabia launched a price war in retaliation for Russia’s opposition to OPEC’s planned production cut.

Mentioned in this article:

Booking Holdings Inc. Nasdaq: BKNG

Snap Inc. NYSE: SNAP

Whiting Petroleum Corp. NYSE: WLL

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