By CountingPips.com | Weekly Large Trader COT Report: WTI Crude Oil
CFTC COT data shows speculator’s pushed oil bets lower last week
WTI Crude Oil Non-Commercial Positions:
Futures market traders and large oil speculators cut back on their overall bullish bets in WTI oil futures last week for the second time in the past three weeks and for seven out of the last nine weeks, 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 +184,177 contracts in the data reported for January 5th. This was a weekly change of -12,174 contracts from the previous week’s total of +196,351 net contracts for the data reported through December 29th.
For the week, the standing non-commercial long positions in oil futures advanced by 11,785 contracts but were overcome by the short positions that advanced by 23,959 contracts to total the overall weekly net change of -12,174 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) slightly reduced their existing bearish positions to a net total position of -188,565 contracts through January 5th. This is a weekly change of +4,051 contracts from the total net amount of -192,616 contracts on December 29th.
USO Crude Oil ETF:
Over the same weekly reporting time-frame, from Tuesday December 29th to Tuesday January 5th, the USO Oil ETF, which tracks the WTI crude oil price, declined from $11.26 to $10.66, 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 |
| 20151201 | 1661176 | 28705 | -212872 | 601 | 208478 | -3547 |
| 20151208 | 1713573 | 52397 | -204823 | 8049 | 197874 | -10604 |
| 20151215 | 1678527 | -35046 | -208139 | -3316 | 210511 | 12637 |
| 20151222 | 1646306 | -32221 | -196681 | 11458 | 192912 | -17599 |
| 20151229 | 1648904 | 2598 | -192616 | 4065 | 196351 | 3439 |
| 20160105 | 1703201 | 54297 | -188565 | 4051 | 184177 | -12174 |
*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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