COT Week 22 Charts: Energy Speculator Positions Mixed led by Heating Oil, Gasoline

By InvestMacro | COT | Data Tables | COT Leaders | Downloads | COT Newsletter

Here are the latest charts and statistics for the Commitment of Traders (COT) data published by the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

The latest COT data is updated through Tuesday May 31st and shows a quick view of how large traders (for-profit speculators and commercial entities) were positioned in the futures markets.

Energy market speculator bets were mixed this week as three out of the six energy markets we cover had higher positioning this week while three markets also had lower contracts. Leading the gains for energy were Heating Oil (6,319 contracts), Gasoline (1,265 contracts) and Natural Gas (1,202 contracts). Meanwhile, leading the declines in speculator bets this week were WTI Crude Oil (-1,785 contracts) and Brent Crude Oil (-1,583 contracts) with Bloomberg Commodity Index (-1,048 contracts) also registering lower bets on the week.

Strength scores (3-Year range of Speculator positions, from 0 to 100 where above 80 is extreme bullish and below 20 is extreme bearish) show that the Bloomberg Commodity Index is above its midpoint for the past 3 years while all the other markets are below the 50 percent level.

Strength score trends (or move index, that show 6-week changes in strength scores) shows that heating oil, natural gas and WTI crude have had rising scores over the past six weeks.

WTI Crude Oil Futures:

The WTI Crude Oil Futures large speculator standing this week recorded a net position of 332,976 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly fall of -1,785 contracts from the previous week which had a total of 334,761 net contracts.

This week’s current strength score (the trader positioning range over the past three years, measured from 0 to 100) shows the speculators are currently Bearish-Extreme with a score of 9.9 percent. The commercials are Bullish-Extreme with a score of 91.0 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bullish with a score of 72.5 percent.

Brent Crude Oil Futures:

The Brent Crude Oil Futures large speculator standing this week recorded a net position of -40,872 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly lowering of -1,583 contracts from the previous week which had a total of -39,289 net contracts.

This week’s current strength score (the trader positioning range over the past three years, measured from 0 to 100) shows the speculators are currently Bearish with a score of 42.6 percent. The commercials are Bullish with a score of 58.0 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bearish with a score of 35.3 percent.

Natural Gas Futures:

The Natural Gas Futures large speculator standing this week recorded a net position of -110,368 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly gain of 1,202 contracts from the previous week which had a total of -111,570 net contracts.

This week’s current strength score (the trader positioning range over the past three years, measured from 0 to 100) shows the speculators are currently Bearish with a score of 45.5 percent. The commercials are Bearish with a score of 49.6 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bullish-Extreme with a score of 100.0 percent.

Gasoline Blendstock Futures:

The Gasoline Blendstock Futures large speculator standing this week recorded a net position of 33,690 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly advance of 1,265 contracts from the previous week which had a total of 32,425 net contracts.

This week’s current strength score (the trader positioning range over the past three years, measured from 0 to 100) shows the speculators are currently Bearish-Extreme with a score of 4.4 percent. The commercials are Bullish-Extreme with a score of 91.0 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bullish-Extreme with a score of 94.9 percent.

#2 Heating Oil NY-Harbor Futures:

The #2 Heating Oil NY-Harbor Futures large speculator standing this week recorded a net position of 121 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly advance of 6,319 contracts from the previous week which had a total of -6,198 net contracts.

This week’s current strength score (the trader positioning range over the past three years, measured from 0 to 100) shows the speculators are currently Bearish with a score of 42.6 percent. The commercials are Bullish with a score of 52.1 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bullish with a score of 60.2 percent.

Bloomberg Commodity Index Futures:

The Bloomberg Commodity Index Futures large speculator standing this week recorded a net position of -10,561 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly reduction of -1,048 contracts from the previous week which had a total of -9,513 net contracts.

This week’s current strength score (the trader positioning range over the past three years, measured from 0 to 100) shows the speculators are currently Bullish with a score of 67.1 percent. The commercials are Bearish with a score of 31.9 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bearish with a score of 38.5 percent.

Article By InvestMacro – Receive our weekly COT Reports by Email

*COT Report: The COT data, released weekly to the public each Friday, is updated through the most recent Tuesday (data is 3 days old) and shows a quick view of how large speculators or non-commercials (for-profit traders) were positioned in the futures markets.

The CFTC categorizes trader positions according to commercial hedgers (traders who use futures contracts for hedging as part of the business), non-commercials (large traders who speculate to realize trading profits) and nonreportable traders (usually small traders/speculators) as well as their open interest (contracts open in the market at time of reporting).See CFTC criteria here.