Bloomberg – Hedge funds and other investors have made record bets on higher crude and fuel prices as freezing weather boosts consumption.
The CHART OF THE DAY shows the total net number of long positions, contracts betting prices will rise, held by so-called large speculators in New York crude, heating oil and gasoline futures, according to Commodities and Futures Trading Commission data. The lower line shows crude oil prices.
“The CFTC data is showing large speculators are behind the current oil rally from $70 a barrel,” said Olivier Jakob, managing director of Petromatrix GmbH in Zug, Switzerland. “Large speculators are now holding all time record net length in WTI, record net length in gasoline, record net length in heating oil.”
