By CountingPips.com – Weekly CFTC Net Speculator Crude Oil Report
CRUDE OIL: Futures market traders and large oil speculators cut back on their overall bullish bets in WTI crude oil futures last week for the 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 +272,196 contracts in the data reported for February 3rd. This was a change of -2,075 contracts from the previous week’s total of +274,271 net contracts for the data reported through January 27th.
For the week, standing non-commercial long positions in oil futures decreased by a total of 8,025 contracts while the short positions fell by 5,950 contracts to total the overall weekly net change of -2,075 contracts.
Over the same weekly reporting time-frame, from Tuesday January 27th to Tuesday February 3rd, the WTI crude oil price saw a strong rise from $46.43 to $53.05 per barrel, according to Nymex futures price data from investing.com. Brent crude prices, meanwhile, jumped from $47.60 to $57.91 per barrel from Tuesday January 27th to Tuesday February 3rd, according to price data from investing.com.
Last 6 Weeks of Large Trader Non-Commercial Positions
Free Reports:
| Date | Open Interest | Long Specs | Short Specs | Net Non-Commercials | Weekly Change | Oil Price | Brent Price |
| 12/30/2014 | 1457729 | 421184 | 148700 | 272484 | -9165 | 54.12 | 57.90 |
| 01/06/2015 | 1505101 | 440821 | 172021 | 268800 | -3684 | 47.93 | 51.10 |
| 01/13/2015 | 1627535 | 485464 | 209984 | 275480 | 6680 | 45.89 | 47.82 |
| 01/20/2015 | 1591022 | 480508 | 199239 | 281269 | 5789 | 46.47 | 47.99 |
| 01/27/2015 | 1668047 | 496281 | 222010 | 274271 | -6998 | 46.23 | 49.60 |
| 02/03/2015 | 1721471 | 488256 | 216060 | 272196 | -2075 | 53.05 | 57.91 |
*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 – Forex Trading News
