March 16th – 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 362,265 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday March 12th. This was a weekly rise of 13,464 net contracts from the previous week which had a total of 348,801 net contracts.
The week’s net position was mostly the result of the short positions paring their bets. The gross bullish position (longs) rose by 2,513 contracts to a weekly total of 500,169 contracts and combined with the gross bearish position (shorts) which cut their bets by -10,951 contracts for the week to a total of 137,904 contracts.
The net speculative position has now gained for a fourth straight week (a total of +74,051 contracts) and for seven out of the past nine weeks. The current bullish standing is at the highest level since November 20th when the net position totaled 367,187 contracts.
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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 -369,503 contracts on the week. This was a weekly decrease of -11,928 contracts from the total net of -357,575 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 $56.87 which was an advance of $0.31 from the previous close of $56.56, 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
