By CountingPips.com | Weekly Large Trader COT Report: WTI Crude Oil
CFTC COT data shows speculator’s pulled back on oil bets last week
WTI Crude Oil Non-Commercial Positions:
Futures market traders and large oil speculators sharply decreased 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 +291,960 contracts in the data reported for May 10th. This was a change of -26,584 contracts from the previous week’s total of +318,544 net contracts for the data reported through May 3rd.
For the week, the standing non-commercial long positions in oil futures fell by -8,224 contracts and combined with the short positions that rose by 18,360 contracts to total the overall weekly net change of -26,584 contracts.
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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) decreased their existing bearish positions to a net total position of -291,621 contracts through May 10th. This is a weekly change of +23,586 contracts from the total net amount of -315,207 contracts on May 3rd.
USO Crude Oil ETF:
Over the same weekly reporting time-frame, from Tuesday May 3rd to Tuesday May 10th, the USO Oil ETF, which tracks the WTI crude oil price, advanced from $10.74 to $10.99, 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 |
| 20160405 | -287827 | 17223 | 290130 | -15381 |
| 20160412 | -279234 | 8593 | 289161 | -969 |
| 20160419 | -325778 | -46544 | 334175 | 45014 |
| 20160426 | -325075 | 703 | 334265 | 90 |
| 20160503 | -315207 | 9868 | 318544 | -15721 |
| 20160510 | -291621 | 23586 | 291960 | -26584 |
*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
