By CountingPips.com | Weekly Large Trader COT Report: WTI Crude Oil

CFTC COT data shows speculator’s cut oil bets lower for 3rd week

WTI Crude Oil Non-Commercial Positions:

Futures market traders and large oil speculators reduced their overall bullish bets in WTI oil futures last week for the third straight week and to the lowest level since August, according to the latest Commitment of Traders (COT) data released by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Monday due to the Thanksgiving holiday schedule.

The non-commercial contracts of crude oil futures, traded by large speculators, traders and hedge funds, totaled a net position of +212,025 contracts in the data reported for November 24th. This was a change of -16,530 contracts from the previous week’s total of +228,555 net contracts for the data reported through November 17th.

The latest data shows that overall bullish bets are at the lowest level since August 18th when positions equaled +210,564 contracts.

For the week, the standing non-commercial long positions in oil futures fell by -21,826 contracts and more than offset the short positions that declined by -5,296 contracts to total the overall weekly net change of -16,530 contracts.

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) cut back on their existing bearish positions to a net total position of -213,473 contracts through November 24th. This is a weekly change of +23,348 contracts from the total net amount of -236,821 contracts on November 17th.

USO Crude Oil ETF:

Over the same weekly reporting time-frame, from Tuesday November 17th to Tuesday November 24th, the USO Oil ETF, which tracks the WTI crude oil price, edged slightly higher from $13.01 to $13.32, according to ETF data for the USO United States Oil Fund LP ETF.

Last 6 Weeks of Large Trader Positions

*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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