FX Speculator’s US Dollar bets surged for 4th week to highest since March

November 21, 2015

By CountingPips.com | Weekly Large Trader COT Report: Currencies

US Dollar net speculator positions jumped last week to +$41.64 billion

The latest data for the weekly Commitment of Traders (COT) report, released by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Friday, showed that large traders and currency speculators sharply increased their overall net bullish positions in the US dollar last week for a fourth consecutive week and to the highest level since March.

Non-commercial large futures traders, including hedge funds and large speculators, had an overall US dollar long position totaling $41.64 billion as of Tuesday November 17th, according to the latest data from the CFTC and dollar amount calculations by Reuters. This was a weekly change of +$7.96 billion from the $33.68 billion total long position that was registered on November 10th, according to the Reuters calculation that totals the US dollar contracts against the combined contracts of the euro, British pound, Japanese yen, Australian dollar, Canadian dollar and the Swiss franc.

Last week’s data brings the US dollar speculative level to the highest standing since March 24th when net positions stood at $43.91 billion. Over the past four weeks alone, the US dollar speculative level has grown by $28.32 billion as investors have reignited USD bets.

Weekly Speculator Contract Changes:

Weekly changes for the major currencies showed that large speculators increased their bets in favor of the just the US dollar against the other currencies with decreasing weekly bets for the euro, British pound sterling, Japanese yen, Swiss franc, Canadian dollar, Australian dollar, New Zealand dollar and the Mexican Peso.


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This latest COT data is through Tuesday November 17th 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. All currency positions are in direct relation to the US dollar where, for example, a bet for the euro is a bet that the euro will rise versus the dollar while a bet against the euro will be a bet that the dollar will gain versus the euro.

Please see the individual currency charts and their respective data points below. (Click on Charts to Enlarge)

Weekly Charts: Large Trader Weekly Positions vs Price

EuroFX:

Last 6 Weeks of Large Trader Positions

Date Open Interest Change OI Net Commercial Positions Weekly Com Changes Net Large Specs Positions Weekly Spec Changes
20151013 349720 12114 97015 -11492 -80576 8234
20151020 357133 7413 79329 -17686 -62566 18010
20151027 380564 23431 134450 55121 -105934 -43368
20151103 405462 24898 168944 34494 -134334 -28400
20151110 421967 16505 184555 15611 -142939 -8605
20151117 436801 14834 204152 19597 -164177 -21238

 

British Pound Sterling:

Last 6 Weeks of Large Trader Positions

Date Open Interest Change OI Net Commercial Positions Weekly Com Changes Net Large Specs Positions Weekly Spec Changes
20151013 152164 -8209 22519 3631 -7527 -2994
20151020 158043 5879 -345 -22864 7537 15064
20151027 153453 -4590 7695 8040 4134 -3403
20151103 151194 -2259 7730 35 188 -3946
20151110 172346 21152 36901 29171 -15770 -15958
20151117 175254 2908 45232 8331 -25260 -9490

 

Japanese Yen:

Last 6 Weeks of Large Trader Positions

Date Open Interest Change OI Net Commercial Positions Weekly Com Changes Net Large Specs Positions Weekly Spec Changes
20151013 169873 -907 21756 -9002 -13832 3767
20151020 184281 14408 13067 -8689 -3639 10193
20151027 189472 5191 55204 42137 -33911 -30272
20151103 204271 14799 65127 9923 -43787 -9876
20151110 234202 29931 97686 32559 -66888 -23101
20151117 250346 16144 111224 13538 -78611 -11723

 

Swiss Franc:

Last 6 Weeks of Large Trader Positions

Date Open Interest Change OI Net Commercial Positions Weekly Com Changes Net Large Specs Positions Weekly Spec Changes
20151013 34934 -3892 11951 -3208 -2352 1618
20151020 35628 694 6735 -5216 625 2977
20151027 38453 2825 12412 5677 1499 874
20151103 51953 13500 22448 10036 -7035 -8534
20151110 60031 8078 27883 5435 -9310 -2275
20151117 67119 7088 35012 7129 -15329 -6019

 

Canadian Dollar:

Last 6 Weeks of Large Trader Positions

Date Open Interest Change OI Net Commercial Positions Weekly Com Changes Net Large Specs Positions Weekly Spec Changes
20151013 116800 -4876 44722 -6824 -33949 1061
20151020 121148 4348 34550 -10172 -27112 6837
20151027 122885 1737 31969 -2581 -18895 8217
20151103 119629 -3256 32644 675 -19491 -596
20151110 134360 14731 35602 2958 -17907 1584
20151117 141785 7425 49967 14365 -28352 -10445

 

Australian Dollar:

Last 6 Weeks of Large Trader Positions

Date Open Interest Change OI Net Commercial Positions Weekly Com Changes Net Large Specs Positions Weekly Spec Changes
20151013 142024 2089 47727 -15058 -33705 7134
20151020 140367 -1657 50636 2909 -38412 -4707
20151027 141008 641 49145 -1491 -36352 2060
20151103 145861 4853 59495 10350 -38625 -2273
20151110 153590 7729 80186 20691 -52830 -14205
20151117 162083 8493 88864 8678 -66464 -13634

 

New Zealand Dollar:

Last 6 Weeks of Large Trader Positions

Date Open Interest Change OI Net Commercial Positions Weekly Com Changes Net Large Specs Positions Weekly Spec Changes
20151013 29038 -2892 2836 -2598 692 1663
20151020 30142 1104 -1418 -4254 3759 3067
20151027 31743 1601 -3029 -1611 5589 1830
20151103 32539 796 -4066 -1037 6618 1029
20151110 33719 1180 -2215 1851 5564 -1054
20151117 34899 1180 -901 1314 5248 -316

 

Mexican Peso:

Last 6 Weeks of Large Trader Positions

Date Open Interest Change OI Net Commercial Positions Weekly Com Changes Net Large Specs Positions Weekly Spec Changes
20151013 116418 -3006 7314 -1794 -4143 1100
20151020 119955 3537 3125 -4189 -616 3527
20151027 136629 16674 2242 -883 -83 533
20151103 148844 12215 2024 -218 -735 -652
20151110 158543 9699 21754 19730 -18835 -18100
20151117 181499 22956 41855 20101 -38263 -19428

 

*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).

The Commitment of Traders report is published every Friday by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and shows futures positions data that was reported as of the previous Tuesday (3 days behind).

Each currency contract is a quote for that currency directly against the U.S. dollar, a net short amount of contracts means that more speculators are betting that currency to fall against the dollar and a net long position expect that currency to rise versus the dollar.

(The charts overlay the forex closing price of each Tuesday when COT trader positions are reported for each corresponding spot currency pair.) See more information and explanation on the weekly COT report from the CFTC website.

All information contained in this article cannot be guaranteed to be accurate and is used at your own risk. All information and opinions on this website are for general informational purposes only and do not in any way constitute investment advice.

Article by CountingPips.com

 

 

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