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WTI Crude Oil Non-Commercial Positions:
Large oil speculators pulled back on their bullish net positions in the WTI crude oil futures markets last week after recording a record high level the week prior, according to the latest Commitment of Traders (COT) data released by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Friday.
The non-commercial contracts of WTI crude futures, traded by large speculators and hedge funds, totaled a net position of 525,254 contracts in the data reported through February 28th. This was a weekly decline of -31,353 contracts from the previous week which had a total of 556,607 net contracts.
Speculators had sharply added to their net positions the previous two weeks and brought positions to a record high of 556,607 net contracts before last week’s decline. Net bullish speculative positions are still above the +500,000 contracts level for a third straight week.
WTI Crude Oil Commercial Positions:
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Meanwhile, the commercial traders position, categorized by the CFTC as hedgers or large traders engaged in buying and selling for business purposes, totaled a net bearish position of -546,016 contracts last week. This was a weekly change of 25,769 contracts from the total net of -571,785 contracts reported the previous week.
USO Crude Oil ETF:
Over the same weekly reporting time-frame, from Tuesday to Tuesday, the USO Crude Oil ETF, which tracks the price of WTI crude oil, closed at approximately $11.45 which was a dip of $-0.09 from the previous close of $11.54, according to ETF market data.
*COT Report: The COT data, released weekly to the public each Friday, is updated through the previous Tuesday (data is 3 days old) and shows a quick view of how large speculators or non-commercials (for-profit traders) as well as the commercial traders (hedgers & traders for business purposes) were positioned in the futures 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
