New York (HedgeCo.net) – Oil prices were flat last week and have been trading in a tight range for the four weeks, but that hasn’t kept hedge funds from increasing their bullish bets. With differing views about global economic growth, the increasing bullish position isn’t exactly surging higher, rather it is ticking up little by little.

According to a report from Reuters, hedge funds increased the number of contracts held long by a measly 232. However, the number of contracts sold short fell by 14,569 contracts which allowed the bullish skew to increase. This is the fourth straight week hedge funds have increased the number of contracts being held long.

Looking at the overall Commitment of Traders report for oil, we see a similar story from the large speculator group as a whole. The group increased the number of contracts held long by 3,385 while the number of contracts sold short fell by 16,658. It is also worth noting that the number of large speculators holding positions fell from 396 to 364.

Rick Pendergraft
Research Analyst
HedgeCoVest