By CountingPips.com | Weekly Large Trader COT Report: WTI Crude Oil
CFTC COT data shows speculator’s trimmed bets again last week
WTI Crude Oil Non-Commercial Positions:
Futures market traders and large oil speculators cut back on their overall bullish bets in WTI oil futures last week for a second straight 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 crude oil futures, traded by large speculators, traders and hedge funds, totaled a net position of +210,564 contracts in the data reported for August 18th. This was a change of -15,279 contracts from the previous week’s total of +225,843 net contracts for the data reported through August 11th.
For the week, the standing non-commercial long positions in oil futures fell by -5,665 contracts and combined with a rise in the short positions by 9,614 contracts to total the overall weekly net change of -15,279 contracts.
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WTI Crude Oil Commercial Positions:
In the commercial positions for oil on the week, the commercials (hedgers or traders engaged in buying and selling for business purposes) reduced their existing bearish positions for a fourth straight week to a net total position of -213,829 contracts through August 18th. This is a weekly change of +18,596 contracts from the total net amount of -232,425 contracts on August 11th.
USO Crude Oil ETF:
Over the same weekly reporting time-frame, from Tuesday August 11th to Tuesday August 18th, the USO Oil ETF, which tracks the WTI crude oil price, dropped from $14.54 to $14.21, according to ETF data for the USO United States Oil Fund LP ETF.
Last 6 Weeks of Large Trader Positions
| Date | Open Interest | Change OI | Net Commercial Positions | Weekly Com Changes | Net Large Specs Positions | Weekly Spec Changes |
| 20150714 | 1733695 | 41804 | -256902 | 33974 | 264387 | -31773 |
| 20150721 | 1668737 | -64958 | -257138 | -236 | 253683 | -10704 |
| 20150728 | 1694436 | 25699 | -243608 | 13530 | 243419 | -10264 |
| 20150804 | 1736523 | 42087 | -242288 | 1320 | 247093 | 3674 |
| 20150811 | 1676233 | -60290 | -232425 | 9863 | 225843 | -21250 |
| 20150818 | 1688731 | 12498 | -213829 | 18596 | 210564 | -15279 |
*COT Report: The weekly commitment of traders report summarizes the total trader positions for open contracts in the futures trading 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
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