VIX Speculators boosted their volatility bets after 2 down weeks

December 15th 2018 – By CountingPips.com – Receive our weekly COT Reports by Email

VIX Non-Commercial Speculator Positions:

Large volatility speculators lifted 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 40,097 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday December 11th. This was a weekly rise of 29,080 net contracts from the previous week which had a total of 11,017 net contracts.

This week’s net position was the result of the gross bullish position going up by 16,983 contracts to a weekly total of 143,807 contracts compared to the gross bearish position which saw a lowering by -12,097 contracts for the week to a total of 103,710 contracts.

The speculative net position rise this week came after bets had declined in the previous two weeks by a total of -24,511 contracts and brought the bullish position to just about +11,000 contracts. The current standing after this week’s large gain is now at the most bullish position since April 17th of this year when the net position totaled 77,951 contracts.

VIX Commercial Positions:

The commercial traders position, hedgers or traders engaged in buying and selling for business purposes, totaled a net position of -37,661 contracts on the week. This was a weekly decline of -32,440 contracts from the total net of -5,221 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 $20.47 which was a rise of $1.20 from the previous close of $19.27, 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