By CountingPips.com – Receive our weekly COT Reports by Email
S&P500 Mini Non-Commercial Speculator Positions:
Large stock market speculators pushed their bullish net positions higher 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 229,233 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday May 1st. This was a weekly increase of 18,269 contracts from the previous week which had a total of 210,964 net contracts.
This week’s gain has boosted the speculative bullish position to the highest level since February 6th when net positions totaled +286,214 contracts. The overall bullish position is now above the +200,000 net contract level for a sixth consecutive week.
S&P500 Mini Commercial Positions:
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Meanwhile, the commercial traders position, hedgers or traders engaged in buying and selling for business purposes, totaled a net position of -501,584 contracts on the week. This was a weekly loss of -24,223 contracts from the total net of -477,361 contracts reported the previous week.
The commercial net position has dropped to the most bearish level since at least 1997, according to our data. The commercials have increased their bearishness for six straight weeks and the overall position has been over the -400,000 contract level for the past five weeks.
SPY ETF:
Over the same weekly reporting time-frame, from Tuesday to Tuesday, the SPY ETF, which tracks the price of S&P500 Index, closed at approximately $264.98 which was a gain of $2.0 from the previous close of $262.98, 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
