RE:The commercial's are net long!Just read the charts.
He doesn't say the commercials are long, he says the 'banks' are long. The commercials, on the left side of the chart he displays (but doesn't highlight), shows 29,121 net short. (8,215 long, 37,326 short).
The other side, which he calls the 'banks', but which includes the banks, large specs, and small specs show 29,121 net long. (Total 129,825 long, less 100,714 short = 29,121).
The specs are almost always net long, the commercials are almost always net short.
So, as is normal, the COTs show net short for the commercials, net long for the specs.
The commercials take the other side of the trade, so the total contracts for the longs and the shorts are equal; in this case, 138,040 (8,215 + 129,825 = 138,040 long. And 37,326 + 100,714 = 138,040 short).
Spec longs have been liquidating since April 22, notice the silver price has declined from ~26 to ~21, while the commercial shorts/spec long contracts have declined by ~36,000. Last week, the contracts increased a bit after mostly declining since late April, so this may indicate a turning point, both for the spec long contracts and for silver price.
Study the chart from Barchart.com which shows both contract and silver price.