The "Current Report"
figures below are open positions as of February 2 based on the
government report issued on February 5 (reports
are issued every Friday as of the previous Tuesday, holidays
excepted - (Click
herefor release schedule)) (see note on commercial
hedging below):
For a longer comparison in
another format click here.
Total (both large and small) long speculators
outnumber the short speculators, 64% to 14% (as of February 2).
For more
detail or to see the original government issued report, click here:
Commitment of Traders and scroll down to the gold section.
A note
about industry hedging:
The futures market exists for the
benefit of commercial gold buyers (mostly jewelry buyers) and
sellers (mostly mining companies) to be able to lock in a
profit. An industry buyer or seller can lock in a profit
if futures price are right. .
If a mining company passes up the
opportunity to lock up a profit, it will be speculating
instead. Most businessmen agree that if you can lock up a
profit rather than speculate, you should do so. Solid,
long lasting companies are usually not based on
speculation.
Therefore, the percentage of
commercial positions does not necessarily reflect the industry
attitude toward the price, but rather has more to do with locking up
a profit for the
company.