Chart: Shorts squeezed on oil rally

The price of crude has soared about 50% since early February. As the chart below illustrates bearish bets decreased 67% in seven weeks as crude rebounded. The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission reports that this is the largest liquidation of short positions on record. The data has placed question over the sustainability of the recent recovery in the oil price. "Short positions on West Texas Intermediate crude, or bets that prices will fall, have dropped by 131,617 contracts since Feb. 2, the biggest liquidation in CFTC data going back a decade... In the same period, bullish wagers fell by 971." (Source: Bloomberg)