COT Week 25 Charts: Energy Speculator bets on defensive led by WTI Crude Oil & Natural Gas

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 June 21st and shows a quick view of how large traders (for-profit speculators and commercial entities) were positioned in the futures markets.

Energy markets speculator bets were lower on the week as just two out of the six energy markets we cover had higher positioning this week while four markets had lower contracts.

Leading the gains for energy markets was Heating Oil (1,089 contracts) with the Bloomberg Commodity Index (259 contracts) also showing a small positive week. Meanwhile, leading the declines in speculator bets this week was WTI Crude Oil (-13,444 contracts) with Natural Gas (-7,384 contracts), Brent Crude Oil (-1,621 contracts) and Gasoline (-49 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 and the Heating Oil are both in bullish levels at the moment. All other energy markets are below the midpoint of the past 3-years and have bearish or extreme bearish readings.

Strength score trends (or move index, that calculate 6-week changes in strength scores) shows that the Bloomberg Commodity Index and the Heating Oil are again leading the six week trends with 19.9 percent and 20.8 percent, respectively. Brent Oil leads the downside trends with -11.4 percent over the past six weeks.

WTI Crude Oil Futures:

The WTI Crude Oil Futures large speculator standing this week was a net position of 289,502 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly decline of -13,444 contracts from the previous week which had a total of 302,946 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 0.0 percent. The commercials are Bullish-Extreme with a score of 100.0 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bullish with a score of 63.5 percent.

Brent Crude Oil Futures:

The Brent Crude Oil Futures large speculator standing this week was a net position of -38,010 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly decline of -1,621 contracts from the previous week which had a total of -36,389 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 47.4 percent. The commercials are Bullish with a score of 53.2 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bearish with a score of 35.7 percent.

Natural Gas Futures:

The Natural Gas Futures large speculator standing this week was a net position of -130,869 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly lowering of -7,384 contracts from the previous week which had a total of -123,485 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 39.3 percent. The commercials are Bullish with a score of 58.0 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bullish-Extreme with a score of 86.3 percent.

Gasoline Blendstock Futures:

The Gasoline Blendstock Futures large speculator standing this week was a net position of 31,407 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly lowering of -49 contracts from the previous week which had a total of 31,456 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 2.1 percent. The commercials are Bullish-Extreme with a score of 95.0 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bullish-Extreme with a score of 83.8 percent.

#2 Heating Oil NY-Harbor Futures:

The #2 Heating Oil NY-Harbor Futures large speculator standing this week was a net position of 9,564 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly lift of 1,089 contracts from the previous week which had a total of 8,475 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 56.5 percent. The commercials are Bearish with a score of 41.2 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bullish with a score of 62.9 percent.

Bloomberg Commodity Index Futures:

The Bloomberg Commodity Index Futures large speculator standing this week was a net position of -8,052 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly boost of 259 contracts from the previous week which had a total of -8,311 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 76.7 percent. The commercials are Bearish with a score of 23.2 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bearish with a score of 29.7 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.