By CountingPips.com – Receive our weekly COT Reports by Email

Here are the latest links to our coverage of the Commitment of Traders data changes.

This week in the COT data, precious metals speculators pushed their positive sentiment sharply higher for Gold again this week. Gold positions rose for the 9th time in the past 10 weeks and have gained by a total of +205,857 net contracts over just that period.

Silver bets, meanwhile, cooled off this week after rising for the previous three weeks in a row (to the best level since November 2017).

Copper speculator positions stand in stark contrast to the current Gold and Silver sentiment. Specs raised their bearish bets by the most on record for one week (by -29,694 contracts) and the overall net position fell to a new all-time record high bearish position of -58,449 contracts.

In currencies, the USD Index speculators once again boosted their bullish bets for a sixth straight week. Speculators also continued to push British pound sterling more bearish for an 8th straight week and for the 11th time out of the past 12 weeks.

Japanese yen bets improved for a 3rd week and rose into bullish territory (+10,561 contracts) for the first time in 60 weeks joining USD Index, MXN and the CAD on the bullish side.

The 10-Year Bond speculators continued their bearish ways (despite the 10-year bond’s bullish ways) and raised bearish bets for a 4th week. Usually reliable trend-followers, the speculators have not been that this year.

The WTI Crude Oil speculators reduced their bullish bets again this week for a 3rd straight week.

Finally, VIX speculators very sharply cut their bearish bets this week as risk off and volatility reined for the first two days of the week. The speculative bearish position had been rising consistently higher and gained in the previous nine of out eleven weeks before this week’s sharp turnaround.

US Dollar Index Speculators raised bullish bets for 6th week. Yen bets go bullish

Large currency speculators advanced their net positions in the US Dollar Index futures markets this week, according to the latest Commitment of Traders (COT) data released by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Friday. See full article.

WTI Crude Oil Speculators reduced their bullish bets for 3rd week

The large speculator contracts of WTI crude futures totaled a net position of 375,641 contracts, according to the latest data this week. This was a change of -11,650 contracts from the previous weekly total. See full article.

10-Year Note Speculators continued to raise their bearish bets for 4th week

Large speculator contracts of the 10-Year Bond futures totaled a net position of -390,886 contracts, according to the latest data this week. This was a change of -7,044 contracts from the previous weekly total. See full article.

Gold Speculators sharply increase bullish bets again, up 9 out of 10 weeks

Large precious metals speculator contracts of the Gold futures totaled a net position of 292,545 contracts, according to the latest data this week. This was a change of 38,157 contracts from the previous weekly total. See full article.

VIX Speculators sharply bailed out of bearish bets this week

Large stock market volatility speculator contracts of the VIX futures totaled a net position of -80,581 contracts, according to the latest data this week. This was a change of 63,733 contracts from the previous weekly total. See full article.

Silver Speculators pulled back on their bullish bets this week

Large precious metals speculator contracts of the silver futures totaled a net position of 49,832 contracts, according to the latest data this week. This was a change of -14,465 contracts from the previous weekly total. See full article.

Copper Speculator’s bearish bets surged to a new record high

Metals speculator contracts of the copper futures totaled a net position of -58,449 contracts, according to the latest data this week. This was a change of -29,694 contracts from the previous weekly total. See full article.

Article By CountingPips.com – Receive our weekly COT Reports by Email

*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) 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).