July 13th – By CountingPips.com – Receive our weekly COT Reports by Email
WTI Crude Oil Non-Commercial Speculator Positions:
Large energy speculators lowered 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 390,149 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday July 9th. This was a weekly decrease of -2,661 net contracts from the previous week which had a total of 392,810 net contracts.
The week’s net position was the result of the gross bullish position (longs) dropping by -7,484 contracts (to a weekly total of 505,696 contracts) while the gross bearish position (shorts) fell by -4,823 contracts for the week (to a total of 115,547 contracts).
The large speculators cut back on their bullish bets this week following three consecutive weeks of gains and a rise by a total of +41,155 contracts over that period. Previously, crude oil bets had been on a streak of seven weekly declines from April 30th to June 11th that shaved -195,704 contracts off the bullish position.
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Overall, the speculator position remains firmly in bullish territory but has now been under the +400,000 net contract level for four straight weeks.
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 -392,967 contracts on the week. This was a weekly uptick of 5,264 contracts from the total net of -398,231 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 $57.83 which was an increase of $1.58 from the previous close of $56.25, 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
