By CountingPips.com
Weekly CFTC Net Speculator Report
VIX Futures Contracts: Large traders and speculators reduced their bearish bets in the VIX futures market last week for a second straight week and to the lowest level this year, according to the latest data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) released on Friday.
The VIX non-commercial futures contracts, comprising of large speculator and hedge fund positions, totaled a net bearish position of just -1,063 contracts in the data reported for March 18th. This was a change of +5,791 contracts from the previous week’s total of -6,854 net contracts that was registered on March 11th.
The VIX index, meanwhile, edged slightly lower from a 14.80 reading on Tuesday March 11th to a 14.52 reading on Tuesday March 18th, 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 |
| 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 |
| 03/04/2014 | 362996 | 104145 | 124591 | -20446 | -4408 | 14.1 |
| 03/11/2014 | 355040 | 114455 | 121309 | -6854 | 13592 | 14.8 |
| 03/18/2014 | 336625 | 107861 | 108924 | -1063 | 5791 | 14.52 |
*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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