By CountingPips.com
Weekly CFTC Net Speculator Report
VIX Futures Contracts: Large trader and speculator positions trimmed their bearish bets from the previous week in the VIX futures market last week, according to the latest data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) released on Friday.
The VIX non-commercial contracts, primarily traded by large speculators and hedge funds, totaled a net position of -51,230 contracts in the data reported for February 4th. This was a change of +14,274 contracts from the previous week’s total of -65,504 net contracts that was recorded on January 28th.
The VIX index, meanwhile, rose to its highest level since October through the February 4th close. The VIX increased from 15.80 on Tuesday January 28th to a 19.11 reading on Tuesday February 4th, according to the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) Volatility Index. This was the highest VIX score October 8th when the VIX registered a 20.34 reading.
Last 6 Weeks of Large Trader Positions
| Date | Open Interest | Net Non-Commercials | Weekly Change | VIX Score |
| 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 |
| 01/28/2014 | 376043 | -65504 | -1198 | 15.8 |
| 02/04/2014 | 384117 | -51230 | 14274 | 19.11 |
*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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