By CountingPips.com
Weekly CFTC Net Speculator Report
VIX Futures Contracts: Large trader and speculator positions cut back on bearish bets for a second consecutive 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 futures contracts, primarily traded by large speculators and hedge funds, totaled a net position of -41,108 contracts in the data reported for February 11th. This was a change of +10,122 contracts from the previous week’s total of -51,230 net contracts that was registered on February 4th.
The VIX index, meanwhile, fell from the highest level since October (on February 4th) to below the 15.00 threshold for the first time in three weeks. The VIX, a popular measurement of 30-day volatility expectations in S&P 500 options, declined from 19.11 on Tuesday February 4th to a 14.51 reading on Tuesday February 11th, 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 |
| 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 |
| 02/11/2014 | 378851 | -41108 | 10122 | 14.51 |
*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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