By CountingPips.com
Weekly CFTC Net Speculator VIX Report
VIX Futures Contracts: Large traders and speculators raised their overall bearish bets in the VIX futures market last week for a second straight week and for the sixth time out of the last seven weeks, 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 -63,466 contracts in the data reported for May 6th. This was a change of -17,980 contracts from the previous week’s total of -45,486 net contracts that was registered on April 29th.
The second straight increase in bearish positions brings overall net contracts to the highest bearish level since January 28th when net positions stood at a level of -65,504 contracts.
Meanwhile, the VIX index over the same reporting time-frame last week edged higher for a 2nd week from a 13.71 reading on Tuesday April 29th to a 13.80 reading on Tuesday May 6th, 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 |
| 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 |
| 04/29/2014 | 365215 | 110843 | 156329 | -45486 | -11429 | 13.71 |
| 05/06/2014 | 391848 | 104252 | 167718 | -63466 | -17980 | 13.80 |
*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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