By CountingPips.com
Weekly CFTC Net Speculator Report
VIX Futures Contracts: Large traders and speculators decreased their overall bearish bets in the VIX futures market last week after four consecutive weeks of rising bearish positions, 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 -34,057 contracts in the data reported for April 22nd. This was a change of +1,889 contracts from the previous week’s total of -35,946 net contracts that was registered on April 15th.
The decline in large bearish positions brings contracts down from the highest bearish level since February 11th when overall positions stood at a level of -41,108 contracts.
The VIX index, meanwhile, declined last week from a 15.61 reading on Tuesday April 15th to a 13.19 reading on Tuesday April 22nd, 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 |
| 03/18/2014 | 336625 | 107861 | 108924 | -1063 | 5791 | 14.52 |
| 03/25/2014 | 335826 | 109110 | 116314 | -7204 | -6141 | 14.02 |
| 04/01/2014 | 357046 | 114839 | 145412 | -30573 | -23369 | 13.10 |
| 04/08/2014 | 359952 | 105096 | 136842 | -31746 | -1173 | 14.89 |
| 04/15/2014 | 368887 | 96296 | 132242 | -35946 | -4200 | 15.61 |
| 04/22/2014 | 362130 | 106598 | 140655 | -34057 | 1889 | 13.19 |
*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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