VIX Speculators continued to boost their volatility bets this week

November 10, 2018

November 10, 2018 – By CountingPips.com – Receive our weekly COT Reports by Email

VIX Non-Commercial Speculator Positions:

Large volatility speculators increased their bullish 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 13,005 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday November 6th. This was a weekly rise of 11,007 net contracts from the previous week which had a total of 1,998 net contracts.

This week’s net position was the result of the gross bullish position dropping by -8,331 contracts to a weekly total of 154,918 contracts but being more than offset by the decline in gross short bets by -19,338 contracts on the week to the gross bearish position total of 141,913 contracts.

Speculators have now been betting in favor of volatility for five straight weeks and by a total of 153,449 contracts over that period. The net position has gone from a highly bearish position of -113,603 bets on October 9th to an overall bullish position in the last two weeks.

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VIX Commercial Positions:

The commercial traders position, hedgers or traders engaged in buying and selling for business purposes, totaled a net position of -8,881 contracts on the week. This was a weekly drop of -10,349 contracts from the total net of 1,468 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 $18.62 which was a shortfall of $-2.30 from the previous close of $20.92, 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

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VIX Speculators continued to boost their volatility bets this week