The $30 million piece of Conseco's bank debt that had been shopped two weeks ago finally traded around the 57 level last Tuesday as the company announced that it would put its finance division up for sale. The buyer and seller of the large piece could not be determined.
Traders suggested that the finance division, Conseco Finance, is viewed as a bad investment for its parent company. For that reason, the sale would be a positive event and could possibly offer some recovery value. In contrast, the paper seems to have traded down from the 58-61 range, where it was quoted two weeks ago. "It's pretty volatile," one trader said. "It's been bouncing around in the 55-65 context." Calls to William Shea, Conseco's acting cfo, were referred to a spokesman, who did not return calls by press time.