By CountingPips.com | Weekly Large Trader COT Report: WTI Crude Oil
CFTC COT data shows speculator’s pushed oil bets lower last week
WTI Crude Oil Non-Commercial Positions:
Futures market traders and large oil speculators reduced their overall bullish bets in WTI oil futures last week for a 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 +290,130 contracts in the data reported for April 5th. This was a change of -15,381 contracts from the previous week’s total of +305,511 net contracts for the data reported through March 29th.
For the week, the standing non-commercial long positions in oil futures advanced by 7,079 contracts but were overtaken by the short positions that rose by 22,460 contracts to total the overall weekly net change of -15,381 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) cut back on their existing bearish positions to a net total position of -287,827 contracts through April 5th. This is a weekly change of +17,223 contracts from the total net amount of -305,050 contracts on March 29th.
USO Crude Oil ETF:
Over the same weekly reporting time-frame, from Tuesday March 29th to Tuesday April 5th, the USO Oil ETF, which tracks the WTI crude oil price, slipped from $9.80 to $9.13, 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 |
| 20160301 | -212878 | 351 | 212518 | 6662 |
| 20160308 | -241089 | -28211 | 244252 | 31734 |
| 20160315 | -267737 | -26648 | 269856 | 25604 |
| 20160322 | -296929 | -29192 | 307977 | 38121 |
| 20160329 | -305050 | -8121 | 305511 | -2466 |
| 20160405 | -287827 | 17223 | 290130 | -15381 |
*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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