By CountingPips.com
Weekly CFTC Net Speculator Report
VIX Futures Contracts: Large traders and speculators slightly added to their bearish bets 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, reflecting large speculator and hedge fund positions, totaled a net position of -16,038 contracts in the data reported for February 25th. This was a change of just -1,115 contracts from the previous week’s total of -14,923 net contracts that was registered on February 18th.
Net non-commercials, on February 18th, reached their lowest level since July 2nd when contracts equaled -14,760 net positions.
The VIX index, meanwhile, declined for the third straight week from 13.87 on Tuesday February 18th to a 13.67 reading on Tuesday February 25th, according to the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) Volatility Index.
Last 6 Weeks of Large Trader Positions
| Date | Open Interest | Long Specs | Short Specs | Net Non-Commercials | Weekly Change | VIX Score |
| 01/21/2014 | 416956 | 128548 | 192854 | -64306 | 7190 | 12.87 |
| 01/28/2014 | 376043 | 108155 | 173659 | -65504 | -1198 | 15.8 |
| 02/04/2014 | 384117 | 101502 | 152732 | -51230 | 14274 | 19.11 |
| 02/11/2014 | 378851 | 85350 | 126458 | -41108 | 10122 | 14.51 |
| 02/18/2014 | 409111 | 107597 | 122520 | -14923 | 26185 | 13.87 |
| 02/25/2014 | 367042 | 108739 | 124777 | -16038 | -1115 | 13.67 |
*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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