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by Stockwatch Business Reporter

West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery lost 74 cents to $48.45 on the New York Merc, while Brent for September lost 86 cents to $55.27 (all figures in this para U.S.). Western Canadian Select traded at a discount of $15.85 to WTI ($32.60), unchanged. Natural gas for August lost 8.1 cents to $2.816. The TSX energy index lost a fraction to close at 183.21.

Scott Saxberg's Crescent Point Energy Corp. (CPG) lost 55 cents to $20.45 on 5.17 million shares, inching closer and closer to the sub-$20 mark, which it has not crossed since 2009. The stock has fallen from nearly $30 over the last two months. Investors seem worried about Crescent Point's ability to digest nearly $1.8-billion of recently announced takeovers, its promise to "revisit" (generally meaning "reduce") its 2015 guidance this quarter and the safety of its 23-cent monthly dividend, which yields a generous 13.5 per cent. Crescent Point has prided itself on never cutting its dividend, not even when its stock fell to nearly $18 in late 2008 and the yield crossed 15 per cent. It says its extensive production hedges provide plenty of support. In a show of confidence, president and CEO Saxberg bought 15,963 shares this month, including 3,063 yesterday. He now holds 678,453 of Crescent Point's 498 million shares. His optimism has not been enough to outweigh the pessimism of other observers. Most recently, in an analyst note yesterday, Barclays lowered its rating on the stock to "equal weight" from "overweight" and cut its price target all the way to $23 (U.S.) from $35 (U.S.).

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