August 24th – By CountingPips.com – Receive our weekly COT Reports by Email
WTI Crude Oil Non-Commercial Speculator Positions:
Large energy speculators advanced 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 414,635 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday August 20th. This was a weekly advance of 32,491 net contracts from the previous week which had a total of 382,144 net contracts.
The week’s net position was the result of the gross bullish position (longs) dropping by -18,071 contracts (to a weekly total of 528,969 contracts) while the gross bearish position (shorts) fell by a greater amount of -50,562 contracts for the week (to a total of 114,334 contracts).
Large speculators boosted their bullish bets for a second straight week this week following three straight down weeks through August 6th. This week’s gain was the largest one-week rise of the past five weeks and brings the overall net position to the highest level since July 16th with bets over +400,000 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 -405,813 contracts on the week. This was a weekly decline of -34,279 contracts from the total net of -371,534 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 $56.13 which was a drop of $-0.97 from the previous close of $57.1, 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
