Saturday 29 December 2012

COT data of Dec 24th 2012 - British Pound [BP]

British Pounds - Values fell quite sharply into last Monday's close (NB all figures were taken at the close of Dec 24th, owing to the holiday break). However, from that 1.6125 level, the Pound has fluctuated without major fresh direction. Total o/i on the 24th was lower, at 181219, with spreads remaining low at 234 (still 0.1% of the total). 

Nett differences:
Commercials -62763 (from -53317).  Large Specs +37321 (from +28036).  Small Specs +25442 (from 25281).  
Proportions:  
Commercials (52.8% of total o/i) - 35.4% of Longs, 70.1% of Shorts, balance minus 34.7
Large Specs (30.8% of total) - 41.2% of Longs, 20.6% of Shorts, balance plus 20.6
Small Specs (16.4% of total) - 23.4% of Longs, 9.3% of Shorts, balance plus 14.1
Commercials reduced their longs, but only in line with the lower overall o/i; however, they added to shorts considerably, with their nett negative balance noticeably bigger. Large Specs reduced longs somewhat, but reduced their shorts even more, moving to a large positive balance. Small Specs showed little change to either longs or shorts, going slightly more positive on balance.

The most evident changes are in the shorts held by Commercials (well up), and by Large Specs (well down). Positioning by all 3 classes keeps us bearish on the Pound.