WTI Crude Oil Speculators sharply reduced net bullish positions for 2nd week

By CountingPips.com | Weekly Large Trader COT Report: WTI Crude Oil

CFTC COT data shows speculator’s oil bets fall for 2nd last week

WTI Crude Oil Non-Commercial Positions:

Futures market traders and large oil speculators sharply cut back on their overall bullish bets in WTI oil futures last week for a second 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 +236,575 contracts in the data reported for October 27th. This was a change of -14,576 contracts from the previous week’s total of +251,151 net contracts for the data reported through October 20th.

For the week, the standing non-commercial long positions in oil futures rose by 14,538 contracts but were more than offset by a large gain in the short positions by 29,114 contracts to total the overall weekly net change of -14,576 contracts.

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) reduced their existing bearish positions for a second week to a net total position of -241,583 contracts through October 27th. This is a weekly change of +21,783 contracts from the total net amount of -263,366 contracts on October 20th.

USO Crude Oil ETF:

Over the same weekly reporting time-frame, from Tuesday October 20th to Tuesday October 27th, the USO Oil ETF, which tracks the WTI crude oil price, fell from $14.73 to $13.82, according to ETF data for the USO United States Oil Fund LP ETF.

Last 6 Weeks of Large Trader Positions

Date	Open Interest	Change OI	Net Commercial Positions	Weekly Com Changes	Net Large Specs Positions	Weekly Spec Changes
20150922	1606217	-96732	-249771	-10813	259429	20043
20150929	1617902	11685	-249749	22	251728	-7701
20151006	1675676	57774	-253213	-3464	258261	6533
20151013	1645951	-29725	-274867	-21654	264992	6731
20151020	1613562	-32389	-263366	11501	251151	-13841
20151027	1676033	62471	-241583	21783	236575	-14576

*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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Source: http://countingpips.com/2015/10/wti-crude-oil-speculators-sharply-reduced-net-bullish-positions-for-2nd-week/