By CountingPips.com – Receive our weekly COT Reports by Email
WTI Crude Oil Non-Commercial Speculator Positions:
Speculators increased their optimism in the WTI Crude Oil futures markets by raising bullish bets 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 futures contracts of WTI Crude Oil futures, traded by large speculators and hedge funds, totaled a net position of 396,459 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday July 18th. This was a weekly increase of 38,434 contracts from the previous week which had a total of 358,025 net contracts.
The gain in speculative bets this week brings the bullish bets of the past three weeks to a total of 69,271 net contracts. The overall bullish level is now at the best standing since April 25th which saw a total of +411,822 net contracts.
WTI Crude Oil Commercial Positions:
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Meanwhile, the commercial traders position, categorized by the CFTC as hedgers or traders engaged in buying and selling for business purposes, totaled a net position of -398,320 contracts on the week. This was a weekly drop of -36,949 contracts from the total net of -361,371 contracts reported the previous week.
USO:
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 $9.54 which was a gain of $0.27 from the previous close of $9.27, 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 – Weekly COT Report
