By CountingPips.com | Weekly Large Trader COT Report: WTI Crude Oil
CFTC COT data shows speculator’s edged oil bets higher last week to +220,342 contracts
WTI Crude Oil Non-Commercial Positions:
Futures market traders and large oil speculators increased their overall bullish bets in WTI oil futures last week for a second straight week, 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 +220,342 contracts in the data reported for September 1st. This was a change of +4,779 contracts from the previous week’s total of +215,563 net contracts for the data reported through August 25th.
For the week, the standing non-commercial long positions in oil futures advanced by 13,017 contracts and outnumbered the short positions that rose by 8,238 contracts to total the overall weekly net change of +4,779 contracts.
Free Reports:
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) upped their existing bearish positions to a net total position of -219,070 contracts through September 1st. This is a weekly change of -2,221 contracts from the total net amount of -216,849 contracts on August 25th.
USO Crude Oil ETF:
Over the same weekly reporting time-frame, from Tuesday August 25th to Tuesday September 1st, the USO Oil ETF, which tracks the WTI crude oil price, rose from 12.73 to 14.81, 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 |
| 20150728 | 1694436 | 25699 | -243608 | 13530 | 243419 | -10264 |
| 20150804 | 1736523 | 42087 | -242288 | 1320 | 247093 | 3674 |
| 20150811 | 1676233 | -60290 | -232425 | 9863 | 225843 | -21250 |
| 20150818 | 1688731 | 12498 | -213829 | 18596 | 210564 | -15279 |
| 20150825 | 1677151 | -11580 | -216849 | -3020 | 215563 | 4999 |
| 20150901 | 1688806 | 11655 | -219070 | -2221 | 220342 | 4779 |
*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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