COT Positioning
Weekly Commitments of Traders positioning across the major futures contracts, by trader class.
Latest CFTC report: 08 Sept 2026 · Positions as of that Tuesday’s close. Released by the CFTC each Friday ~16:30 ET.
| Flag | Price | Δ 1w | Commercials (smart money) | Large Specs | Small | 26w trend | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Net | % of OI | Δ WoW | Net | % of OI | Net | |||||||
| ★ | Gold metals | 4,340 | −2.0% | 87,451 | +8,018 | +9.2% | +53 | −26,095 | −29.8% | +18,077 | 100 | |
| ★ | VIX Futures other | 17.1 | +11.8% | 431,671 | +90,200 | +20.9% | +10,857 | −94,829 | −22.0% | +4,629 | 100 | |
| ⚡ | Soybeans grains | 1,305 | +0.9% | 28,694 | −11,359 | −39.6% | +236 | +23,997 | +83.6% | −12,638 | 99 | |
| ⚡ | Live Cattle meats | 225.1 | +5.7% | 294,350 | −21,629 | −7.3% | −2,336 | +29,023 | +9.9% | −7,394 | 97 | |
| ⚡ | Bitcoin crypto | 78,964 | +0.9% | 170,604 | +0 | +0.0% | +0 | +1,692 | +1.0% | −1,692 | 95 | |
| ⚡ | Australian Dollar currencies | 0.71 | −1.1% | 455,468 | +15,684 | +3.4% | −3,126 | −34,870 | −7.7% | +19,186 | 94 | |
| ★ | Lean Hogs meats | 79.72 | −3.1% | 283,094 | +56,605 | +20.0% | −4,952 | −57,989 | −20.5% | +1,384 | 94 | |
| ⚡ | Ether crypto | 2,559 | +3.7% | 26,564 | −3,151 | −11.9% | −1,081 | +2,670 | +10.1% | +481 | 93 | |
| ⚡ | Feeder Cattle meats | 337.9 | +4.0% | 62,097 | +5,326 | +8.6% | +1,105 | −3,394 | −5.5% | −1,932 | 89 | |
| — | Orange Juice softs | 153.55 | +11.2% | 9,558 | −1,090 | −11.4% | −110 | +972 | +10.2% | +118 | 77 | |
| — | Palladium metals | 1,296 | −6.8% | 16,773 | +2,832 | +16.9% | −481 | −3,712 | −22.1% | +880 | 69 | |
| — | Crude Oil (WTI) energy | 101.89 | +11.4% | 753,433 | +21,513 | +2.9% | +1,448 | −24,784 | −3.3% | +3,271 | 64 | |
| — | Platinum metals | 1,769 | −2.9% | 67,810 | −19,848 | −29.3% | −543 | +15,976 | +23.6% | +3,872 | 61 | |
| — | Soybean Oil grains | 70.16 | +2.0% | 601,961 | −129,453 | −21.5% | +10,575 | +116,982 | +19.4% | +12,471 | 58 | |
| — | British Pound currencies | 1.35 | −0.3% | 318,608 | +57,102 | +17.9% | +11,299 | −58,836 | −18.5% | +1,734 | 50 | |
| — | Coffee softs | 289.25 | −10.8% | 152,136 | −19,640 | −12.9% | +6,655 | +18,001 | +11.8% | +1,639 | 50 | |
| — | Swiss Franc currencies | 1.22 | −0.9% | 153,683 | +41,504 | +27.0% | +5,416 | −29,985 | −19.5% | −11,519 | 44 | |
| — | Canadian Dollar currencies | 0.72 | −0.7% | 334,861 | +74,429 | +22.2% | −40,853 | −70,499 | −21.1% | −3,930 | 41 | |
| — | Euro FX currencies | 1.16 | −0.6% | 942,464 | +6,730 | +0.7% | +15,457 | −42,616 | −4.5% | +35,886 | 31 | |
| — | S&P 500 indices | 760.88 | −1.2% | 2,071,836 | −50,017 | −2.4% | −15,904 | −76,036 | −3.7% | +126,053 | 26 | |
| — | Cocoa softs | 6,029 | −0.9% | 178,092 | +3,206 | +1.8% | +6,920 | −6,517 | −3.7% | +3,311 | 25 | |
| — | Dollar Index currencies | 99.44 | +0.3% | 57,858 | −19,188 | −33.2% | −464 | +17,604 | +30.4% | +1,584 | 24 | |
| ⚡ | Wheat grains | 722 | +0.8% | 484,680 | −12,548 | −2.6% | +11,188 | +10,470 | +2.2% | +2,078 | 14 | |
| ⚡ | Natural Gas energy | 2.88 | −3.1% | 17,407 | −2,041 | −11.7% | −612 | +0 | +0.0% | +2,041 | 11 | |
| ⚡ | Russell 2000 indices | 287.91 | −2.7% | 44,279 | −114 | −0.3% | +33 | +107 | +0.2% | +7 | 9 | |
| ★ | Cotton softs | 85.04 | +3.2% | 380,405 | −133,254 | −35.0% | +8,646 | +122,751 | +32.3% | +10,503 | 7 | |
| ⚡ | Nasdaq 100 indices | 709.18 | −1.4% | 313,941 | −35,752 | −11.4% | +4,734 | +20,704 | +6.6% | +15,048 | 4 | |
| ★ | Dow indices | 524.49 | −1.8% | 47,253 | −30,246 | −64.0% | −8,726 | +10,193 | +21.6% | +20,053 | 4 | |
| ★ | Soybean Meal grains | 356.4 | +3.2% | 667,618 | −200,522 | −30.0% | +2,063 | +176,561 | +26.4% | +23,961 | 2 | |
| ★ | Silver metals | 63.76 | −3.5% | 103,250 | −44,908 | −43.5% | +372 | +26,049 | +25.2% | +18,859 | 1 | |
| ★ | Corn grains | 534 | +4.3% | 1,803,323 | −470,605 | −26.1% | +6,216 | +542,999 | +30.1% | −72,394 | 1 | |
| ⚡ | Japanese Yen currencies | 0.01 | −0.3% | 499,635 | −14,041 | −2.8% | −111,602 | +10,796 | +2.2% | +3,245 | 0 | |
| ★ | Mexican Peso currencies | 0.06 | −1.1% | 327,215 | −99,931 | −30.5% | −2,214 | +94,732 | +29.0% | +5,199 | 0 | |
| ★ | Sugar softs | 19.06 | +5.5% | 1,276,579 | −213,029 | −16.7% | −21,931 | +158,186 | +12.4% | +54,843 | 0 | |
⚠ No CFTC match: 30Y T-Bonds · No CFTC match: 10Y T-Notes · No CFTC match: 5Y T-Notes · No CFTC match: RBOB Gasoline · No CFTC match: Heating Oil
How to read it
- COT Index (0–100): where commercials' net position sits within its rolling 26-week range. Above 80 = commercials maximally long (washed-out shorts); below 20 = commercials maximally short (peak crowding by everyone else).
- ⚡ Extreme positioning: COT Index above 80 or below 20 — the historically reliable contrarian zones.
- ★ Smart-money divergence: commercials at one extreme AND large speculators at the opposite — the classic "smart money / dumb money" setup.
- 26w trend sparkline: commercials' net position over the last 26 weeks. Direction of slope is more informative than the absolute level.
Overview
The Commitments of Traders report is the closest thing the market has to a positioning X-ray. Published weekly by the CFTC, it breaks open interest in the major futures contracts into trader classes, so you can see who is long and who is short — not just where price is. Positioning is context: it tells you how crowded a move already is and where the fuel for the next one is likely to come from.
The three cohorts
- Commercials — producers and hedgers using futures to offset real exposure. Typically counter-trend and early — they sell into strength and buy into weakness. The smartest, slowest money in the room.
- Non-commercials (large speculators) — hedge funds and managed money. Trend-following by nature; their net position is the headline read on speculative conviction. Extremes here mark crowded trades.
- Non-reportables (retail) — small traders below reporting thresholds. Often most exposed at turning points — useful as a contrarian tell when positioning gets lopsided.
How to read the table
- COT Index (0-100) — where commercials' net position sits within its rolling 26-week range. Above 80 = commercials maximally long (washed-out shorts). Below 20 = commercials maximally short (peak crowding everywhere else).
- ⚡ Extreme positioning — COT Index above 80 or below 20 — the historically reliable contrarian zones to fade momentum.
- ★ Smart-money divergence — commercials at one extreme AND large speculators at the opposite. The classic 'smart money / dumb money' setup — fade the specs, follow the hedgers.
- 26w trend sparkline — commercials' net position over the last 26 weeks. The direction of slope often matters more than the absolute level.
Methodology & source
Data is pulled live from the CFTC’s public Socrata API (publicreporting.cftc.gov) — the same source the official release publishes through. We map ~40 contracts across indices, bonds, currencies, energy, metals, grains, softs, meats and crypto/VIX, then enrich each row with the live underlying price from Yahoo Finance. The COT Index is computed from the most recent 26 weeks of data each time the page revalidates.
In the MTS framework
COT lives in Time. It frames the crowd. A thesis that aligns with already-stretched speculative positioning carries poor risk-reward — the move you want may be the move that’s ending. A thesis that runs against an over-extended crowd, confirmed by Motion structure and timed by Time, is where the asymmetry lives.