Thursday July 17, 1:54 pm ET
By Adam Schreck, AP Business Writer

Oil tumbles for third day in a row; natural gas dives by biggest amount in nearly a year

NEW YORK (AP) -- Oil prices fell sharply Thursday following two days of declines, dragged down further by a massive sell-off of natural gas.

The slide accelerated amid growing concerns about the weakening U.S. economy.

Light, sweet crude for August delivery was down $4.08 at $130.52 a barrel before midday on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices have fallen about $14 in just the past three days.

This has sent Dawson Geophysical below $51.00 today. I really am not sure how to approach opening a position in Dawson, because historically it wouldn't be out of the norm for oil to fall a bit more for the next couple months. However, Dawson is already trading at a terrific value and the prospect of domestic oil production picking up relatively soon makes it all the more attractive long-term. I'll have some cash available to invest next week, and at this point Dawson is my top candidate for new money. Chipotle has bounced back above $70 and they are reporting earnings next week, so that is one I am certainly keeping a close eye on. I also remain interested in Middleby, but I'm hesitant to jump into restaurant-related stocks too quickly because they likely won't be treated well if the economy remains sluggish. Short-term, I think falling oil will present a good opportunity (obviously Dawson is the main stock I'm watching in that area). Right now so many stocks have been hammered it's hard to look at one and not call it a good price to buy for the long run, so it isn't easy narrowing down the list. At this point, I'm using my analysis of the overall economic situation and I think over the next couple years Dawson is at a very cheap price right now. I would feel very comfortable opening a position in the P/E range of 11-13, which is roughly in the range of $46 to $54. Historically that has been a great level to buy in, and what makes it all the better is that earnings are growing at fantastic levels and yet the stock still has fallen a good amount. All in all, I really like the opportunity Dawson presents.