Money managers add short positions at slower pace: CFTC data Bearish wagers on WTI reached highest level since last August Oil short-sellers have been on a roll, but their bets on declining prices may have begun to hit a wall. Hedge-fund wagers on lower West Texas Intermediate crude reached the highest level since August in the week ended June 27, after more than doubling in two months, according to Commodity Futures Trading Commission data. The bearish bets increased at a much slower pace than in the previous two weeks, though. The U.S. benchmark price had its longest rally of the year, climbing 7 percent last week, amid signs U.S. shale output is stuttering. “That slowdown was the prelude to what should be probably a pretty sizable net change in the position next week,” John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital LLC, a New York-based hedge fund, said by telephone. […]