Secondary market players were not happy about the current downward trend on bank loan prices this week. The whole market is down five to 10 points, one dealer said with a scowl. Conseco bank debt, for example, was said to have slipped from the high 60s to the 60-62 range following a bank call on Tuesday. At least $10 million is believed to have changed hands. The details of the bank meeting could not be ascertained, but the company currently is contemplating strategies for a more aggressive restructuring plan. Calls to the company were not returned by press time.
Roughly $10-15 million of Owens-Corning paper traded down, sliding from the high 50s to the mid-50s by midweek. The company released its quarterly earnings on Monday and disclosed a net loss of $411 million for the first six months as a result of new accounting standards for dealing with goodwill. Calls to the company were not returned by press time.
Lastly, Charter Communications traded in the Street at 87 1/4. Traders said the name had fallen back a point after a brief uptick that followed last week's report that majority equity holder Paul Allen would look to take the company private. Market players noted that Allen's future plans have yet to be confirmed and that the paper was pulled back down by the current market mood. Calls to Kent Kalkwarf, cfo, were not returned.