Hedge funds gloomy on oil, CFTC data show

For the first time in 17 months, hedge funds in July made more bets on oil prices falling than rising, according to the latest government data. Short positions from noncommercial investors, hedge funds and other large investors that don't actually take delivery of oil, surpassed long positions in July for the first month since February 2007, data from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed. Short positions are bets on falling prices while long positions bet on rising prices.

 "We are seeing a significant retrenchment of bullish appetite among funds," said Edward Meir, an analyst at futures brokerage MF Global. "The price bias still favors the downside."

Short positions surpassed long positions by 660 contracts in the week ended July 29, the CFTC reported late Friday. For the previous week, net short positions were 3,640 contracts. One contract equals 1,000 barrels of crude oil (Read more..)


Source :MarketWatch