August 31st – By CountingPips.com – Receive our weekly COT Reports by Email
WTI Crude Oil Non-Commercial Speculator Positions:
Large energy speculators cut back on 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 391,650 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday August 27th. This was a weekly lowering of -22,985 net contracts from the previous week which had a total of 414,635 net contracts.
The week’s net position was the result of the gross bullish position (longs) declining by -15,504 contracts (to a weekly total of 513,465 contracts) while the gross bearish position (shorts) advanced by 7,481 contracts for the week (to a total of 121,815 contracts).
Large crude oil speculators reduced their bullish bets for the first time in three weeks through Tuesday. Previously speculators had been pushing their bets higher by a total of +38,994 contracts over those previous two weeks. The current standing is back under the +400,000 net contract level this week for fifth time out of the past six weeks.
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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 -382,445 contracts on the week. This was a weekly gain of 23,368 contracts from the total net of -405,813 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 $54.93 which was a fall of $-1.20 from the previous close of $56.13, 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
