Oil names off again as crude slides goes on, but drop slows; Cliffs climbs; NCI deal slates

By Paul Deckelman and Paul A. Harris

New York, Jan. 6 – It was a case of more of the same on Tuesday for the high-yield market in general and the energy space in particular, as they again declined in the face of a continued drop in the world price of crude oil.

But traders said that unlike Monday, when Junkbondland saw energy credits like California Resources Corp. and Linn Energy LLC fall by multiple points in active trading as crude prices swooned, on Tuesday, those bonds were only off by a modest amount, even though crude continued to cascade downward.

Also in the energy realm, the recently battered bonds of coal and iron ore producer Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. actually turned upward, although there was no fresh news seen out on the company one way or another.

Away from the energy space, the overall junk market remained lower. Notable names included iHeartMedia Inc., Level 3 Communications, Inc. and European cable operator Numericable SFR – the latter credit down big in heavy trading even as corporate parent Altice SA was shopping around an anticipated €5 billion equivalent multi-tranche offering for likely pricing next week.

The primary also saw a prospective offering from NCI Building Systems, Inc. joining the forward calendar.

Statistical measures of junk market performance were lower across the board for a second straight session on Tuesday.

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