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WTI Crude Oil Non-Commercial Positions:
Large speculators increased their net positions in the WTI crude oil futures markets last week for a third consecutive week, according to the latest Commitment of Traders (COT) data released by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Friday.
The non-commercial contracts of WTI crude futures, traded by large speculators and hedge funds, totaled a net position of 492,692 contracts in the data reported through January 31st. This was a weekly gain of 10,169 contracts from the previous week which showed a total of 482,523 net contracts.
Speculative traders boosted positions by over +10,000 contracts for a third week in a row and are now at a new multi-year high at just under +500,000 net contracts.
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 bearish position of -509,138 contracts last week. This is a weekly change of -11,198 contracts from the total net of -497,940 contracts reported the previous week.
USO Crude Oil ETF:
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 $11.32 which was a edging lower of $-0.05 from the previous close of $11.37, according to ETF market data.
*COT Report: The COT data, released weekly to the public each Friday, is updated through the previous 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
