October 13, 2018 – By CountingPips.com – Receive our weekly COT Reports by Email
S&P500 Mini Non-Commercial Speculator Positions:
Large stock market speculators sharply advanced their bullish net positions in the S&P500 Mini 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 S&P500 Mini futures, traded by large speculators and hedge funds, totaled a net position of 255,819 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday October 9th. This was a weekly advance of 27,784 contracts from the previous week which had a total of 228,035 net contracts.
The rise in bullish bets for SP500 Mini this week happened one day before steep selloffs really took hold in the US stock markets. The speculative position gained for the fourth consecutive week through Tuesday and brought the overall standing to the highest level since February 6th when the position totaled 286,214 net contracts. Coincidentally, the high of February 6th also marked the beginning of the sharp February selloff in stocks and breakdowns in low volatility products.
S&P500 Mini Commercial Positions:
Free Reports:
The commercial traders position, hedgers or traders engaged in buying and selling for business purposes, totaled a net position of -274,415 contracts on the week. This was a weekly shortfall of -16,938 contracts from the total net of -257,477 contracts reported the previous week.
S&P500 Mini Futures:
Over the same weekly reporting time-frame, from Tuesday to Tuesday, the S&P500 Mini Futures (Front Month) closed at approximately $2888.250 which was a shortfall of $-40.25 from the previous close of $2928.50, 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