By CountingPips.com – Receive our weekly COT Reports by Email
S&P500 Non-Commercial Speculator Positions:
Large speculators added to their bearish net positions in the S&P500 futures markets for a second week 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 S&P500 futures, traded by large speculators and hedge funds, totaled a net position of -3,469 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday August 22nd. This was a weekly change of -1,557 contracts from the previous week which had a total of -1,912 net contracts.
Speculative positions are now at their most bearish level since June 13th when net positions totaled -5,466 contracts.
S&P500 Commercial Positions:
Free Reports:
The commercial traders position, categorized by the CFTC as hedgers or traders engaged in buying and selling for business purposes, totaled a net position of -10,609 contracts on the week. This was a weekly increase of 7,253 contracts from the total net of -17,862 contracts reported the previous week.
Over the same weekly reporting time-frame, from Tuesday to Tuesday, the SPY ETF, which tracks the price of S&P500 Index, closed at approximately $245.44 which was a loss of $-1.07 from the previous close of $246.51, 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 – Weekly COT Report
