By CountingPips.com
Weekly CFTC Net Speculator Report
VIX Futures Contracts: Large traders and speculators added to their overall bearish bets in the VIX futures market last week after a decline the previous week, according to the latest data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) released on Friday.
The VIX non-commercial futures contracts, comprising of large speculator and hedge fund positions, totaled a net bearish position of -45,486 contracts in the data reported for April 29th. This was a change of -11,429 contracts from the previous week’s total of -34,057 net contracts that was registered on April 22nd.
The increase in bearish positions brings overall net contracts to the highest bearish level since February 4th when net positions stood at a level of -51,230 contracts.
The VIX index over the same reporting time-frame last week edged higher from a 13.19 reading on Tuesday April 22nd to a 13.71 reading on Tuesday April 29th, according to the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) Volatility Index.
Last 6 Weeks of Large Trader Positions
| Date | Open Interest | Long Specs | Short Specs | Net Non-Commercials | Weekly Change | VIX Score |
| 03/25/2014 | 335826 | 109110 | 116314 | -7204 | -6141 | 14.02 |
| 04/01/2014 | 357046 | 114839 | 145412 | -30573 | -23369 | 13.10 |
| 04/08/2014 | 359952 | 105096 | 136842 | -31746 | -1173 | 14.89 |
| 04/15/2014 | 368887 | 96296 | 132242 | -35946 | -4200 | 15.61 |
| 04/22/2014 | 362130 | 106598 | 140655 | -34057 | 1889 | 13.19 |
| 04/29/2014 | 365215 | 110843 | 156329 | -45486 | -11429 | 13.71 |
*COT Report: The weekly commitment of traders report summarizes the total trader positions for open contracts in the futures trading 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).
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