Cotton prices are starting off the week with a bounce, as contracts are up 47 to 68 points. Cotton settled lower on Friday, by 18 to 39 points. Nearby May is in deliveries, and only one trade was reported for the entire day, at 80.07. Active December was down 33 points and settled just a few ticks off of the intraday low. The outside markets were mixed, with June Crude Oil up 28 cents to $83.85 per barrel. 

CFTC data released on Friday showed spec traders bailing out on another 26,641 contracts from their net long position as of 4/23. That bested the previous week for the largest bear move for a single week, and took their once large (less than a month ago) net long to just 9,501 contracts. Their net position has moved more than 70,000 contracts in 3 weeks, mostly on long liquidation, as shorts started to build in the last week.

There were 198 contracts delivered against May cotton, all by BNP Paribas Securities. ICE certified cotton stocks were up another 3,283 bales on April 25 at 181,430 bales. The Cotlook A Index was down another 45 points to 87.80 cents/lb on April 25. The AWP dropped another 85 points to 61.33 in Thursday afternoon’s release and is in effect through next Thursday.

May 24 Cotton  is at 80.07, up 49 points, currently unchanged

Jul 24 Cotton  is at 81.35, up 27 points, currently up 68 points

Dec 24 Cotton  is at 77.61, down 3 points, currently 61 points