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Crude Oil Speculators net bullish positions decline for a 3rd straight week
By CountingPips.com – Weekly CFTC Net Speculator Crude Oil Report
CFTC COT data shows speculators pushed oil bets lower for a 3rd week
CRUDE OIL: Futures market traders and large oil speculators slightly trimmed their bullish bets in WTI crude oil futures last week and pushed overall bullish positions lower for a third 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 +260,659 contracts in the data reported for March 10th. This was a change of -1,630 contracts from the previous week’s total of +262,289 net contracts for the data reported through March 3rd.
For the week, standing non-commercial long positions in oil futures dipped by -2,806 contracts while the short positions fell by -1,176 contracts to total the overall weekly net change of -1,630 contracts.
The decrease in the overall net speculator positions brings the WTI crude oil bets to the lowest level since November 25th when bullish positions equaled +253,001 contracts.
Over the same weekly reporting time-frame, from Tuesday March 3rd to Tuesday March 10th, the WTI crude oil price saw a decline from $50.52 to $48.29 per barrel, according to Nymex futures price data from investing.com. Brent crude prices, meanwhile, also fell from $61.02 to $56.39 per barrel from Tuesday March 3rd to Tuesday March 10th, according to price data from investing.com.
Last 6 Weeks of Large Trader Non-Commercial Positions
| Date | Open Interest | Long Specs | Short Specs | Net Non-Commercials | Weekly Change | Oil Price | Brent Price |
| 02/03/2015 | 1721471 | 488256 | 216060 | 272196 | -2075 | 53.05 | 57.91 |
| 02/10/2015 | 1717593 | 478989 | 207462 | 271527 | -669 | 50.02 | 57.49 |
| 02/17/2015 | 1689966 | 478741 | 179351 | 299390 | 27863 | 54.29 | 62.53 |
| 02/24/2015 | 1695437 | 490905 | 221068 | 269837 | -29553 | 49.21 | 58.69 |
| 03/03/2015 | 1687908 | 497948 | 235659 | 262289 | -7548 | 50.52 | 61.02 |
| 03/10/2015 | 1670894 | 495142 | 234483 | 260659 | -1630 | 48.29 | 56.39 |
*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
Source: http://countingpips.com/2015/03/crude-oil-speculators-net-bullish-positions-decline-for-a-3rd-straight-week/
