Understanding CFTC Commitment of Traders Data
The CFTC's weekly Commitment of Traders report tells you how institutions are actually positioned in futures markets — not what they say, what they hold. This is a plain-English reference for reading it correctly: what each number means, what it doesn't mean, and where the common misreadings happen.
What Is the COT Report and How Do You Read the COT Index?
What the report actually measures, how the COT Index turns raw contract counts into a 0–100 positioning scale, and why the net number alone can mislead you without open interest.
What Are Commercial Hedgers in the COT Report?
Why a commercial short is a hedge, not a bearish bet — and why the size of the hedge matters more than its direction.
What Is Institutional Divergence in COT Positioning Data?
When Asset Managers and Leveraged Funds disagree, one of them is usually driving the move on borrowed conviction. Here's how to tell which.
What Does Extreme Positioning Mean in COT Data?
Reading a positioning extreme correctly — and why it means the opposite thing on a commodity than it does on a currency or index.