By CountingPips.com | Weekly Large Trader COT Report: WTI Crude Oil
CFTC COT data shows speculator’s edged oil bets higher last week
WTI Crude Oil Non-Commercial Positions:
Futures market traders and large oil speculators slightly raised their overall bullish bets in WTI oil futures last week following four weeks of declining bullish bets, according to the latest Commitment of Traders (COT) data released by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Friday.
The non-commercial contracts of crude oil futures, traded by large speculators, traders and hedge funds, totaled a net position of +247,093 contracts in the data reported for August 4th. This was a change of +3,674 contracts from the previous week’s total of +243,419 net contracts for the data reported through July 28th.
For the week, the standing non-commercial long positions in oil futures advanced by 2,709 contracts and combined with the short positions that fell by -965 contracts to total the overall weekly net change of +3,674 contracts.
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WTI Crude Oil Commercial Positions:
In the commercial positions for oil on the week, the commercials (hedgers or traders engaged in buying and selling for business purposes) slightly reduced their existing bearish positions to a net total position of -242,288 contracts through August 4th. This is a weekly change of +1,320 contracts from the total net amount of -243,608 contracts on July 28th.
USO Crude Oil ETF:
Over the same weekly reporting time-frame, from Tuesday July 28th to Tuesday August 4th, the USO Oil ETF, which tracks the WTI crude oil price, fell from $15.85 to $15.22, according to ETF data for the USO United States Oil Fund LP ETF.
Last 6 Weeks of Large Trader Positions
| Date | Open Interest | Change OI | Net Commercial Positions | Weekly Com Changes | Net Large Specs Positions | Weekly Spec Changes |
| 20150630 | 1670091 | 20066 | -331671 | 3288 | 328179 | 746 |
| 20150707 | 1691891 | 21800 | -290876 | 40795 | 296160 | -32019 |
| 20150714 | 1733695 | 41804 | -256902 | 33974 | 264387 | -31773 |
| 20150721 | 1668737 | -64958 | -257138 | -236 | 253683 | -10704 |
| 20150728 | 1694436 | 25699 | -243608 | 13530 | 243419 | -10264 |
| 20150804 | 1736523 | 42087 | -242288 | 1320 | 247093 | 3674 |
*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
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