Hedge funds remained unusually bearish on U.S. oil prices last week even as the cost of WTI tumbled towards the lowest level since 2009. Hedge funds and other money managers held short positions in WTI-linked futures and options equivalent to more than 193 million barrels of oil, according to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Money managers had never held a short position that large before, except for a brief period in March, when U.S. crude stockpiles were rising fast and there were fears storage space would run out. More hedge funds expect prices to rise than the number predicting a fall, and the oil bulls have a larger position overall, amounting to nearly 310 million barrels. But the ratio of hedge fund long to short positions in WTI is just 1.6:1, down from 4.6:1 in the middle of May, and the lowest in almost five years ( link.reuters.com/vyk45w […]