October 27th 2018 – By CountingPips.com – Receive our weekly COT Reports by Email
WTI Crude Oil Non-Commercial Speculator Positions:
Large energy speculators continue to 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 455,278 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday October 23rd. This was a weekly reduction of -37,951 contracts from the previous week which had a total of 493,229 net contracts.
Speculative positions fell for a fourth week in a row and for the sixth time out of the past seven weeks. The current spec standing has now declined to the lowest level since July 24th of 2017 when the net position totaled +446,827 contracts.
WTI Crude Oil Commercial Positions:
Free Reports:
The commercial traders position, hedgers or traders engaged in buying and selling for business purposes, totaled a net position of -502,815 contracts on the week. This was a weekly gain of 34,372 contracts from the total net of -537,187 contracts reported the previous week.
WTI Crude Oil Futures:
Over the same weekly reporting time-frame, from Tuesday to Tuesday, the WTI Crude Oil Futures (Front Month) closed at approximately $66.43 which was a decrease of $-5.49 from the previous close of $71.92, 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 – Receive our weekly COT Reports by Email