August 31st – By CountingPips.com – Receive our weekly COT Reports by Email
VIX Non-Commercial Speculator Positions:
Large volatility speculators decreased their bearish net positions in the VIX futures markets this week, according to the latest Commitment of Traders (COT) data released by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Friday.
The non-commercial futures contracts of VIX futures, traded by large speculators and hedge funds, totaled a net position of -57,153 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday August 27th. This was a weekly change of 2,345 net contracts from the previous week which had a total of -59,498 net contracts.
The week’s net position was the result of the gross bullish position (longs) declining by -9,132 contracts (to a weekly total of 116,331 contracts) while the gross bearish position (shorts) dropped by a larger amount of -11,477 contracts for the week (to a total of 173,484 contracts).
Large VIX speculators cut back on their bearish bets for a fourth consecutive week this week. Speculators had been consistently raising their bearish bets since the beginning of the year as net bearish positions rose in twenty-three out of thirty weeks through July 30th (before the last 4 weeks cool off).
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The current speculator standing is now at the least bearish level since February 5th of this year as speculators have become more cautious in the past month.
VIX Commercial Positions:
The commercial traders position, hedgers or traders engaged in buying and selling for business purposes, totaled a net position of 65,848 contracts on the week. This was a weekly rise of 1,554 contracts from the total net of 64,294 contracts reported the previous week.
VIX Futures:
Over the same weekly reporting time-frame, from Tuesday to Tuesday, the VIX Futures (Front Month) closed at approximately $20.12 which was an advance of $1.65 from the previous close of $18.47, according to unofficial market data.
*COT Report: The COT data, released weekly to the public each Friday, is updated through the most recent Tuesday (data is 3 days old) and shows a quick view of how large speculators or non-commercials (for-profit traders) as well as the commercial traders (hedgers & traders for business purposes) were positioned in the futures markets.
The CFTC categorizes trader positions according to commercial hedgers (traders who use futures contracts for hedging as part of the business), non-commercials (large traders who speculate to realize trading profits) and nonreportable traders (usually small traders/speculators).
Find CFTC criteria here: (http://www.cftc.gov/MarketReports/CommitmentsofTraders/ExplanatoryNotes/index.htm).
Article By CountingPips.com – Receive our weekly COT Reports by Email
