By CountingPips.com – Receive our weekly COT Reports by Email
VIX Non-Commercial Speculator Positions:
Large volatility speculators sharply increased their bearish net positions once again 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 -53,346 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday June 12th. This was a weekly lowering of -17,157 contracts from the previous week which had a total of -36,189 net contracts.
Speculative bearish positions have now increased for eight out of the last nine weeks and are at the largest bearish position since January 30th when the net position was -59,357 contracts. VIX spec positions had spent fourteen weeks in bullish territory from February to the middle of May before turning back into an overall bearish level.
VIX Commercial Positions:
Free Reports:
The commercial traders position, hedgers or traders engaged in buying and selling for business purposes, totaled a net position of 57,116 contracts on the week. This was a weekly uptick of 16,578 contracts from the total net of 40,538 contracts reported the previous week.
VIX:
Over the same weekly reporting time-frame, from Tuesday to Tuesday, the VIX, which tracks the volatility of the S&P500, closed at approximately $12.34 which was a loss of $-0.06 from the previous close of $12.40, 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