WTI Crude Oil Non-Commercial Speculator Positions:
Large oil speculators boosted their bullish net positions in the WTI Crude Oil futures markets this week, according to the latest Commitment of Traders (COT) data released by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Friday.
The non-commercial futures contracts of WTI Crude Oil futures, traded by large speculators and hedge funds, totaled a net position of 657,590 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday January 9th. This was a weekly rise of 33,377 contracts from the previous week which had a total of 624,213 net contracts.
The speculative position jumped to a new record high level this week, surpassing the previous record high of two weeks ago. The overall net position has now remained above the +600,000 net level for seven consecutive weeks.
WTI Crude Oil Commercial Positions:
The commercial traders position, hedgers or traders engaged in buying and selling for business purposes, totaled a net position of -674,098 contracts on the week. This was a weekly fall of -25,984 contracts from the total net of -648,114 contracts reported the previous week.
USO (NYSE:USO):
Over the same weekly reporting time-frame, from Tuesday to Tuesday, the USO Crude Oil ETF, which tracks the price of WTI crude oil, closed at approximately $12.57 which was a boost of $0.50 from the previous close of $12.07, according to unofficial market data.