Bloomberg posted an article titled “growing oil glut shows investors there’s nowhere to go but down” in it they mentioned "Money managers’ short position in WTI rose 28 percent to 180,134 futures and options, CFTC data show". Anyone know where on the CFTC website you can find that report? And anyway know whose taking the opposite side of that trade?
http://www.cftc.gov/MarketReports/BankParticipationReports/index.htm
It’s probably this^^^. Although, not sure how they are coming up with the 180,134 number for futures and options. Most likely it is the NYME WTI numbers they are looking at.
As far as who is taking the other side? It is not a specific who, but many. Everyone wants to hate on short term speculators but they collectively take the other side. A money manager might gradually accumulate a short position by selling contracts in opportune times and holding them. Meanwhile, the trader on the other side may have bought the contract and sold it later in the day for a profit to some other trader who wants a go at the short term rally …Or they had to bail on the trade if the intraday price went down on them… but none the less, they are not just siting there holding their long position. Traders are throwing the contracts around like hot potatoes. 