Short sellers heavily bet on a crash in crude oil, most facing significant losses

MeNews · 2026-04-09T04:10:10+00:00

A group of crude oil traders heavily shorted bets on falling oil prices, resulting in most incurring losses. ETF investors poured a record $977 million into SCO, but the fund still declined 41% in March. Meanwhile, long-position funds also set records, leading to a highly polarized market.

MeNews

2026-04-09 04:10:10

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ME News update, April 2 (UTC+8). A batch of crude oil traders went aggressively short, betting that oil prices would retreat from war-driven highs, but so far most traders have been severely hurt. Data shows that in March, ETF investors poured $977 million into the ProShares UltraShort Bloomberg Crude Oil ETF (SCO), setting a record for the largest single-month inflow since the fund was launched in 2008. SCO provides twice the inverse daily returns on changes in crude oil prices. Despite record inflows, SCO’s total assets are still only $970 million, below the total inflows for the full month.

Asym 500 founder Rocky Fishman said: “This is a bet on ‘the war ending soon.’” After President Trump once again hinted that the Iran war could end, the fund rose 8%, but it still fell 41% in March, marking the worst performance in nearly six years. However, short bets are only half the story in the market, as long funds also set records. In March, the U.S. Oil Fund (USO) attracted about $700 million, the largest monthly inflow since the pandemic; the U.S. Brent crude oil fund (BNO) pulled in $600 million, the highest on record. The market is highly divided, with leveraged funds hedging the bets on both sides. (Jin10) (Source: ODAILY)

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