636,576 contracts in U.S. natural gas short positions, highest for 3 consecutive weeks

Money managers’ net-short positions across seven U.S. natural gas futures contracts totaled 636,576 contracts as of Feb. 3, the largest since CFTC data began in May 2013 and a third straight weekly record, according to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Commitments of Traders report. The bearish positioning, reported by ZeroHedge, reflects the aggregate of gross short holdings without netting out long contracts on NYMEX Henry Hub-linked futures. The record short build comes even as forecasts call for colder air to push into the eastern U.S. later this week, a potential test of whether bearish sentiment is overstretched. Traders will watch whether the cold snap forces short covering and whether the record positioning unwinds in coming CFTC reports.