An article in the Wall Street Journal on the futures market for oil in the United Kingdom noted that on the day the article was published, “the number of long positions … fell by 6%.”
a. What is a long position in the futures market?
b. The article also noted: “Speculative investors in oil cut their bullish bets on the price of crude.” What does the article mean by a “bullish bet”? How would these investors have cut their bets?