Hedge funds and other money managers had amassed short positions in U.S. crude oil amounting to 154 million barrels by last Tuesday according to data from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Short positions have increased more than 70 percent since the middle of October and stand at the highest level since August, the CFTC showed in its latest commitments of traders report published on Friday ( tmsnrt.rs/1NmVszh ). The number of hedge funds with reported short positions of at least 350,000 barrels in the main WTI contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange hit 69 last week, the largest number since April ( tmsnrt.rs/1NmVx5V ). The average hedge fund short position has increased from 1.6 million barrels in mid-October to as […]