CFTC COT data shows speculator’s slashed oil bets last week
WTI Crude Oil Non-Commercial Positions:
Futures market traders and large oil speculators sharply decreased their overall bullish bets in WTI oil futures last week and reduced their net position 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 +285,795 contracts in the data reported for September 6th. This was a change of -55,493 contracts from the previous week’s total of +341,288 net contracts for the data reported through August 30th.
The decline in speculative oil bets brings the net position to under the +300,000 level for the first time in approximately a month.
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) sharply decreased their existing bearish positions to a net total position of -288,667 contracts through September 6th. This is a weekly change of +47,897 contracts from the total net amount of -336,564 contracts on August 30th.
USO Crude Oil ETF:
Over the same weekly reporting time-frame, from Tuesday August 30th to Tuesday September 6th, the USO Oil ETF, which tracks the WTI crude oil price, dipped from $10.73 to $10.39, according to ETF data for the USO United States Oil Fund LP ETF.
*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
