VIX Speculators upped their bullish bets for 2nd week

December 22nd – By CountingPips.com – Receive our weekly COT Reports by Email

VIX Non-Commercial Speculator Positions:

Large volatility speculators raised 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 44,245 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday December 18th. This was a weekly boost of 4,148 net contracts from the previous week which had a total of 40,097 net contracts.

This week’s net position was the result of the gross bullish position declining by -3,299 contracts to a weekly total of 140,508 contracts compared to the gross bearish position which saw a decline by -7,447 contracts for the week to a total of 96,263 contracts.

The net speculative position has gained by 33,228 net contracts over the last two weeks. The current standing is now at the most bullish level since April 17th when the net position was 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 -43,799 contracts on the week. This was a weekly shortfall of -6,138 contracts from the total net of -37,661 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 21.97 which was an advance of 1.50 from the previous close of 20.47, 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