WTI Crude Oil Non-Commercial Speculator Positions:
Large speculators reduced 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 374,480 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday September 12th. This was a weekly reduction of -7,633 contracts from the previous week which had a total of 382,113 net contracts.
WTI crude oil speculative bullish positions have now fallen lower for five out of the past six weeks and remain below the +400,000 net contract position for a third straight week.
WTI Crude Oil Commercial Positions:
The commercial traders position, categorized by the CFTC as hedgers or traders engaged in buying and selling for business purposes, totaled a net position of -379,315 contracts on the week. This was a weekly boost of 9,414 contracts from the total net of -388,729 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 $9.87 which was a shortfall of $-0.05 from the previous close of $9.92, according to unofficial market data.