By CountingPips.com | Weekly Large Trader COT Report: WTI Crude Oil
CFTC COT data showed speculator’s bailed out of their short positions last week
WTI Crude Oil Non-Commercial Positions:
Futures market traders and large oil speculators sharply continued to raise their overall bullish bets in WTI oil futures last week for a fifth consecutive 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 +307,977 contracts in the data reported for March 22nd. This was a change of +38,121 contracts from the previous week’s total of +269,856 net contracts for the data reported through March 15th.
For the week, the standing non-commercial long positions in oil futures declined by -16,578 contracts but were mightily overshadowed by a huge decrease in the short positions that fell by -54,699 contracts to total the overall weekly net change of +38,121 contracts.
Free Reports:
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) increased their existing bearish positions to a net total position of -296,929 contracts through March 22nd. This is a weekly change of -29,192 contracts from the total net amount of -267,737 contracts on March 15th.
USO Crude Oil ETF:
Over the same weekly reporting time-frame, from Tuesday March 15th to Tuesday March 22nd, the USO Oil ETF, which tracks the WTI crude oil price, rose from $9.70 to $10.54, according to ETF data for the USO United States Oil Fund LP ETF.
Last 6 Weeks of Large Trader Positions
| Date | Net Commercial Positions | Weekly Com Changes | Net Large Specs Positions | Weekly Spec Changes |
| 20160216 | -168995 | 31891 | 158987 | -28890 |
| 20160223 | -213229 | -44234 | 205856 | 46869 |
| 20160301 | -212878 | 351 | 212518 | 6662 |
| 20160308 | -241089 | -28211 | 244252 | 31734 |
| 20160315 | -267737 | -26648 | 269856 | 25604 |
| 20160322 | -296929 | -29192 | 307977 | 38121 |
*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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