March 30th – By CountingPips.com – Receive our weekly COT Reports by Email
WTI Crude Oil Non-Commercial Speculator Positions:
Large energy speculators continued to raise 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 448,619 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday March 26th. This was a weekly gain of 33,873 net contracts from the previous week which had a total of 414,746 net contracts.
The week’s net position was the result of the gross bullish position (longs) ascending by 25,989 contracts to a weekly total of 560,552 contracts that combined with the gross bearish position (shorts) which saw a decline by -7,884 contracts for the week to a total of 111,933 contracts.
The net speculative bullish position has now gained for six straight weeks and by a total of +160,405 contracts over that period. This recent boost has pushed the current bullish standing to the highest level since October 23rd when the net position totaled +455,278 contracts.
Free Reports:
WTI Crude Oil Commercial Positions:
The commercial traders position, hedgers or traders engaged in buying and selling for business purposes, totaled a net position of -455,418 contracts on the week. This was a weekly fall of -28,571 contracts from the total net of -426,847 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 $59.94 which was a rise of $0.65 from the previous close of $59.29, 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