August 3rd – 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 387,291 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday July 30th. This was a weekly decline of -10,560 net contracts from the previous week which had a total of 397,851 net contracts.
The week’s net position was the result of the gross bullish position (longs) rising by 2,298 contracts (to a weekly total of 540,238 contracts) while the gross bearish position (shorts) rose by 12,858 contracts for the week (to a total of 152,947 contracts).
Speculators reduced their bullish positions for a second straight week and for the third time in the past four weeks. The current speculator sentiment remains overall bullish with a 3.5 to 1 long to short ratio while the net position is just below the average level (+401,853 contracts) for all of 2019.
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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 -387,067 contracts on the week. This was a weekly advance of 10,421 contracts from the total net of -397,488 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 $58.05 which was an increase of $1.28 from the previous close of $56.77, 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
