By CountingPips.com – Receive our weekly COT Reports by Email
WTI Crude Oil Non-Commercial Speculator Positions:
Large commodity speculators cut back on their bullish net positions in the WTI Crude Oil futures markets this week, according to the latest Commitment of Traders (COT) data released by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Friday.
The non-commercial futures contracts of WTI Crude Oil futures, traded by large speculators and hedge funds, totaled a net position of 445,448 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday August 22nd. This was a weekly fall of -18,025 contracts from the previous week which had a total of 463,473 net contracts.
WTI crude speculators have now reduced their bullish bets for three straight weeks (total of -41,317 contracts) although the overall net position level remains above the +400,000 threshold for a fifth consecutive week.
WTI Crude Oil Commercial Positions:
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The commercial traders position, categorized by the CFTC as hedgers or traders engaged in buying and selling for business purposes, totaled a net position of -455,866 contracts on the week. This was a weekly advance of 17,633 contracts from the total net of -473,499 contracts reported the previous week.
USO:
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 $9.77 which was a small rise of $0.02 from the previous close of $9.75, according to unofficial market data.
*COT Report: The COT data, released weekly to the public each Friday, is updated through the most recent 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 – Weekly COT Report
