August 10th – By CountingPips.com – Receive our weekly COT Reports by Email
WTI Crude Oil Non-Commercial Speculator Positions:
Large energy 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 375,641 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday August 6th. This was a weekly decrease of -11,650 net contracts from the previous week which had a total of 387,291 net contracts.
The week’s net position was the result of the gross bullish position (longs) advancing by just 686 contracts (to a weekly total of 540,924 contracts) while the gross bearish position (shorts) rose by 12,336 contracts on the week (to a total of 165,283 contracts).
Speculative bullish positions declined for a third straight week this week and for the fourth time in the past five weeks. The crude oil position remains bullish but has fallen under the average position for 2019 (+401,007 contracts) for a third straight week.
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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 -374,089 contracts on the week. This was a weekly rise of 12,978 contracts from the total net of -387,067 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 $53.63 which was a drop of $-4.42 from the previous close of $58.05, 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