CFTC Commitments of Traders – Bets on Crude Oil and Gold Continued to Drop

According to the CFTC Commitments of Traders report for the week ended August 18, NET LENGTH for crude oil futures declined -10 240 contracts to 510 695 for the week. Speculative long position fell -17 242 contracts, while dropped -7 002. For refined oil products, NET LENGTH for gasoline increased +5 111 contracts to 69 083, while NET LENGTH for heating oil futures gained +1 959 contracts to 15 434. NET LENGTH in Natural Gas futures slipped -5 289 contracts to 8 226 for the week. Gold futures’ NET LENGTH slipped -535 contracts to 223 518. Speculative long positions declined -4 498 contracts while shorts fell +3 963. The yellow metal continued the correction as US dollar rebounded and Treasury yields edged higher. Silver futures’ NET LENGTH gained +2 988 contracts to 26 556. For PGMs, NET LENGTH of Nymex platinum futures dipped -460  contracts to 21 812 while that for palladium was down -142 contracts to 2 556.