By CountingPips.com – Weekly CFTC Net Speculator Crude Oil Report
CFTC COT data shows speculators increased bullish bets to +264,996 contracts
CRUDE OIL: Futures market traders and large speculators increased their overall bullish bets in WTI crude oil futures last week following two weeks of declining levels, according to the latest Commitment of Traders (COT) data released by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Monday due to Thanksgiving US holiday.
The non-commercial contracts of crude oil futures, traded by large speculators, traders and hedge funds, rose to a total net position of +264,996 contracts in the data reported for December 2nd. This was a change of +11,995 contracts from the previous week’s total of +253,001 net contracts for the data reported through November 25th.
For the week, standing non-commercial long positions in oil futures rose by a total of +8,097 contracts while the short positions declined by -3,898 contracts to total the overall weekly net change of +11,995 contracts.
Over the same weekly reporting time-frame, from Tuesday November 25th to Tuesday December 2nd, the WTI crude oil price declined from $74.09 to $66.88 per barrel, according to Nymex futures price data from investing.com. Brent crude prices, meanwhile, also showed a decrease from $78.33 to $70.54 per barrel from Tuesday November 25th to Tuesday December 2nd, according to price data from investing.com.
Last 6 Weeks of Large Trader Non-Commercial Positions
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| Date | Open Interest | Long Specs | Short Specs | Net Non-Commercials | Weekly Change | Oil Price | Brent Price |
| 10/28/2014 | 1476289 | 428086 | 160782 | 267304 | -12797 | 81.42 | 86.03 |
| 11/04/2014 | 1498736 | 435649 | 167117 | 268532 | 1228 | 77.19 | 82.82 |
| 11/11/2014 | 1509371 | 442119 | 165287 | 276832 | 8300 | 77.94 | 82.39 |
| 11/18/2014 | 1459175 | 403713 | 148350 | 255363 | -21469 | 74.64 | 78.47 |
| 11/25/2014 | 1386635 | 400621 | 147620 | 253001 | -2362 | 74.09 | 78.33 |
| 12/02/2014 | 1439654 | 408718 | 143722 | 264996 | 11995 | 66.88 | 70.54 |
*COT Report: The weekly commitment of traders report summarizes the total trader positions for open contracts in the futures trading 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). Find CFTC criteria here: (http://www.cftc.gov/MarketReports/CommitmentsofTraders/ExplanatoryNotes/index.htm).
Article by CountingPips.com – Forex Trading News
