04 Aug

Speculator Extremes: Coffee, GBP, Gasoline, Cotton & CAD lead Bullish & Bearish Positions

August 4, 2024

By InvestMacro

The latest update for the weekly Commitment of Traders (COT) report was released by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Friday for data ending on July 30th.

This weekly Extreme Positions report highlights the Most Bullish and Most Bearish Positions for the speculator category. Extreme positioning in these markets can foreshadow strong moves in the underlying market.

To signify an extreme position, we use the Strength Index (also known as the COT Index) of each instrument, a common method of measuring COT data. The Strength Index is simply a comparison of current trader positions against the range of positions over the previous 3 years. We use over 80 percent as extremely bullish and under 20 percent as extremely bearish. (Compare Strength Index scores across all markets in the data table or cot leaders table)

Speculators or Non-Commercials Notes:

Speculators, classified as non-commercial traders by the CFTC, are made up of large commodity funds, hedge funds and other significant for-profit participants. The Specs are generally regarded as trend-followers in their behavior towards price action – net speculator bets and prices tend to go in the same directions. These traders often look to buy when prices are rising and sell when prices are falling. To illustrate this point, many times speculator contracts can be found at their most extremes (bullish or bearish) when prices are also close to their highest or lowest levels.

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These extreme levels can be dangerous for the large speculators as the trade is most crowded, there is less trading ammunition still sitting on the sidelines to push the trend further and prices have moved a significant distance. When the trend becomes exhausted, some speculators take profits while others look to also exit positions when prices fail to continue in the same direction. This process usually plays out over many months to years and can ultimately create a reverse effect where prices start to fall and speculators start a process of selling when prices are falling.

Here Are This Week’s Most Bullish Speculator Positions:

Coffee


The Coffee speculator position comes in as the most bullish extreme standing this week. The Coffee speculator level is currently at a 87.3 percent score of its 3-year range.

The six-week trend for the percent strength score totaled -4.4 this week. The overall net speculator position was a total of 63,016 net contracts this week with a decline of -3,484 contract in the weekly speculator bets.

British Pound


The British Pound speculator position comes next in the extreme standings this week. The British Pound speculator level is now at a 86.2 percent score of its 3-year range.

The six-week trend for the percent strength score was 28.7 this week. The speculator position registered 111,471 net contracts this week with a weekly drop of -30,712 contracts in speculator bets.

Silver


The Silver speculator position comes in third this week in the extreme standings. The Silver speculator level resides at a 83.8 percent score of its 3-year range.

The six-week trend for the speculator strength score came in at -3.8 this week. The overall speculator position was 49,061 net contracts this week with a reduction by -2,319 contracts in the weekly speculator bets.

Gold


The Gold speculator position comes up number four in the extreme standings this week. The Gold speculator level is at a 83.5 percent score of its 3-year range.

The six-week trend for the speculator strength score totaled a change of 1.5 this week. The overall speculator position was 246,601 net contracts this week with a drop by -26,473 contracts in the speculator bets.

DowJones Mini


The DowJones Mini speculator position rounds out the top five in this week’s bullish extreme standings. The DowJones Mini speculator level sits at a 82.3 percent score of its 3-year range. The six-week trend for the speculator strength score was 19.5 this week.

The speculator position was 13,538 net contracts this week with a gain of 2,172 contracts in the weekly speculator bets.

This Week’s Most Bearish Speculator Positions:

Gasoline


The Gasoline speculator position comes in as the most bearish extreme standing this week. The Gasoline speculator level is at a 0.0 percent score of its 3-year range.

The six-week trend for the speculator strength score was -21.5 this week. The overall speculator position was 23,056 net contracts this week with a decline of -8,827 contracts in the speculator bets.

Cotton


The Cotton speculator position comes in next for the most bearish extreme standing on the week. The Cotton speculator level is at a 0.0 percent score of its 3-year range.

The six-week trend for the speculator strength score was -6.0 this week. The speculator position was -37,341 net contracts this week with a decrease by -3,070 contracts in the weekly speculator bets.

5-Year Bond


The 5-Year Bond speculator position comes in as third most bearish extreme standing of the week. The 5-Year Bond speculator level resides at a 0.0 percent score of its 3-year range.

The six-week trend for the speculator strength score was -11.6 this week. The overall speculator position was -1,656,038 net contracts this week with a slide by -132,777 contracts in the speculator bets.

Canadian Dollar


The Canadian Dollar speculator position comes in as this week’s fourth most bearish extreme standing. The Canadian Dollar speculator level is at a 0.0 percent score of its 3-year range.

The six-week trend for the speculator strength score was -21.7 this week. The speculator position was -196,263 net contracts this week with a decrease of -34,660 contracts in the weekly speculator bets.

Brazil Real


Finally, the Brazil Real speculator position comes in as the fifth most bearish extreme standing for this week. The Brazil Real speculator level is at a 3.5 percent score of its 3-year range.

The six-week trend for the speculator strength score was -22.5 this week. The speculator position was -41,159 net contracts this week with an increase of 839 contracts in the weekly speculator bets.

Article By InvestMacro – Receive our weekly COT Newsletter

*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) 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) as well as their open interest (contracts open in the market at time of reporting). See CFTC criteria here.


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