By CountingPips.com | Weekly Large Trader COT Report: WTI Crude Oil
CFTC COT data shows speculator’s pushed oil bets lower
WTI Crude Oil Non-Commercial Positions:
Futures market traders and large oil speculators sharply declined their overall bullish bets in WTI oil futures last week for a second consecutive 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 +163,504 contracts in the data reported for January 12th. This was a change of -20,673 contracts from the previous week’s total of +184,177 net contracts for the data reported through January 5th.
For the week, the standing non-commercial long positions in oil futures rose by 39,378 contracts but were heavily overtaken by the short positions that increased by 60,051 contracts to total the overall weekly net change of -20,673 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) decreased their existing bearish positions to a net total position of -178,240 contracts through January 12th. This is a weekly change of +10,325 contracts from the total net amount of -188,565 contracts on January 5th.
USO Crude Oil ETF:
Over the same weekly reporting time-frame, from Tuesday January 5th to Tuesday January 12th, the USO Oil ETF, which tracks the WTI crude oil price, fell from $10.66 to $9.17, 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 |
| 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 |
| 20160112 | 1756232 | 53031 | -178240 | 10325 | 163504 | -20673 |
*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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