The weekly CFTC Commitments of Traders report (legacy, futures only) showed noncommercial traders increased their net-long soybean futures position (blue line) by 39,656 contracts, putting it at 102,877 contracts as of Tuesday, December 21. Included in this was an increase in their long futures position (green line) of 28,439 contracts and a decrease of their short futures position (red line) of 11,217 contracts. This set of numbers is impressive in every way, with the net gain of nearly 40,000 contracts the largest since a reported 48,757 contract increase the week ending Tuesday, September 1, 2020. Market bulls could be a bit nervous by the large-scale adding of long futures combined with the short futures position being cut to its smallest level since the week of April 20, 2021. It’s easy for a a market to get out of balance, particularly if futures spreads are sitting in neutral territory.
