Ford Motor Co.'s $7 billion term loan "B" traded as low as par 1/8-3/8 Wednesday afternoon eventually hitting par 1/4-1/2 and sticking there, a dealer said. The paper went down on the back of General Motor's fourth quarter profit news. It had traded as high as 101 3/4 the week before (CIN, 3/12). Ford's loan-only credit default swaps were slightly wider at 222-228.
"Ford has been consistently trading," said one trader. "We could be buyers but we've already got a lot of it. Everyone that wants it already owns it." GM's 7.125% '13 notes were down 1 3/4 points for the week at 94 1/4 while its 8.375% '33s were down 3 1/4 to 90 1/2. Its credit default swaps were about 40 points wider at 444 from the week before. Ford's notes saw less activity, with its 7% '13s falling 1 1/4 points to 94 1/2 and its 5.625% '08s down 3/4 to 98. A dealer said Ford has no sub-prime mortgage exposure and that's why it hadn't moved as much as GM. Calls to spokesmen for both companies were not returned.