July 20th – By CountingPips.com – Receive our weekly COT Reports by Email
VIX Non-Commercial Speculator Positions:
Large volatility speculators added to their bearish net positions 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 -141,797 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday July 16th. This was a weekly change of -9,615 net contracts from the previous week which had a total of -132,182 net contracts.
The week’s net position was the result of the gross bullish position (longs) growing by 12,879 contracts (to a weekly total of 113,796 contracts) but being more than overcome by the gross bearish position (shorts) which gained by 22,494 contracts for the week (to a total of 255,593 contracts).
The large speculators continue to keep pushing their bearish bets higher and betting on lower volatility. Spec bearish positions have now risen for six straight weeks (by a total of -56,287 contracts) and for eight out of the past nine weeks.
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The current bearish standing is at the highest level since May 7th which was one week after the all-time record high bearish position of -180,359 net contracts.
VIX Commercial Positions:
The commercial traders position, hedgers or traders engaged in buying and selling for business purposes, totaled a net position of 151,284 contracts on the week. This was a weekly increase of 8,792 contracts from the total net of 142,492 contracts reported the previous week.
VIX Futures:
Over the same weekly reporting time-frame, from Tuesday to Tuesday, the VIX Futures (Front Month) closed at approximately $15.32 which was a decrease of $-0.75 from the previous close of $16.07, 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
