By CountingPips.com
Weekly CFTC Net Speculator Report
VIX Futures Contracts: Large traders and speculators cut back on their total net bearish positions in the VIX futures market last week after increasing bearish positions for the previous three weeks, according to the latest data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) released on Friday. The VIX non-commercial contracts, traded by large speculators and hedge funds, totaled a net position of -64,306 contracts in the data reported for January 21st. This was a change of +7,190 contracts from the previous week’s total of -71,496 net contracts on January 14th. Speculators had previously raised bearish positions for three straight weeks to the most bearish level since December 10th.
The VIX index, also known as the fear index, rose from 12.28 on Tuesday January 14th to 12.87 on Tuesday January 21st, according to the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) Volatility Index.
Last 6 Weeks of Large Trader Positions
| Date | Open Interest | Net Non-Commercials | Weekly Change | VIX Score |
| 12/17/2013 | 378966 | -62637 | 10695 | 16.21 |
| 12/24/2013 | 354273 | -38125 | 24512 | 12.48 |
| 12/31/2013 | 349696 | -39992 | -1867 | 14.28 |
| 01/07/2014 | 359668 | -47472 | -7480 | 12.92 |
| 01/14/2014 | 397328 | -71496 | -24024 | 12.28 |
| 01/21/2014 | 416956 | -64306 | 7190 | 12.87 |
*COT Report: The weekly commitment of traders report summarizes the total trader positions for open contracts in the futures trading 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).
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