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, currency speculators once again increased their US Dollar Index bullish positions for a fifth straight week and pushed the current USD standing to the best level in 126 weeks.

Japanese yen speculators cooled their bullish bets after a strong August that brought net positions into a bullish level. Speculators also pushed their New Zealand dollar bets to a new all-time record bearish level for a second straight week at over -39,598 contracts.

Precious metals speculators boosted their Gold bullish positions higher for a second week and to the highest level since July of 2016 (to above the +312,000 net contract level).

Silver speculator bets fell again this week for a third straight week. However, the recent pullbacks have been relatively modest and the silver position remains over the +50,000 net contract level for a fifth consecutive week.

Copper speculators re-upped their bearish positions slightly this week after two weeks of declining bearish bets. Net positions are back above the -40,000 net contract level but still a ways off the record level (-58,841 contracts) of August 3rd.

VIX speculators continued to sharply add to their bearish positions for a fourth consecutive week. This was also the third straight week with bearish positions increasing by at least -22,000 contracts. The VIX spec position is now at the most bearish level since May 7th.

The 10-Year Bond speculators reduced their bearish bets this week for the fifth time out of the past six weeks. Specs have dropped their bearish positions by a total of 218,040 contracts in the past six weeks and the current level is now at the least bearish level since March.

Finally, the WTI Crude Oil speculators edged their bullish bets lower again this week and for the fourth time in five weeks. Despite the recent declines, crude bets do remain above the +400,000 contracts for a third straight week.

US Dollar Index Speculators raised their bullish bets for 5th week. Yen, NZD & CAD bets fall

Large currency speculators boosted 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 edged their bullish bets lower for 2nd week

The large speculator contracts of WTI crude futures totaled a net position of 424,162 contracts, according to the latest data this week. This was a change of -2,943 contracts from the previous weekly total. See full article.

10-Year Note Speculators continued to reduce their bearish bets for 3rd week

Large speculator contracts of the 10-Year Bond futures totaled a net position of -196,306 contracts, according to the latest data this week. This was a change of 33,657 contracts from the previous weekly total. See full article.

Gold Speculators raised their bullish bets to over 3-year high

Large precious metals speculator contracts of the Gold futures totaled a net position of 312,444 contracts, according to the latest data this week. This was a change of 29,845 contracts from the previous weekly total. See full article.

VIX Speculators sharply pushed their bearish bets higher for 4th week, up to 20-week high

Large stock market volatility speculator contracts of the VIX futures totaled a net position of -148,519 contracts, according to the latest data this week. This was a change of -22,868 contracts from the previous weekly total. See full article.

Silver Speculators lowered their bullish bets for 3rd straight week

Large precious metals speculator contracts of the silver futures totaled a net position of 50,729 contracts, according to the latest data this week. This was a change of -5,249 contracts from the previous weekly total. See full article.

Copper Speculators added to their bearish bets this week

Metals speculator contracts of the copper futures totaled a net position of -40,739 contracts, according to the latest data this week. This was a change of -3,789 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).