The commitment of traders report is a weekly breakdown, published by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), of who holds positions in US futures and options markets. It shows whether groups such as hedgers and speculators are net long or net short, which gives price action traders useful background on positioning, not a trade entry.
Quick answer: what is the commitment of traders report?
The commitment of traders (COT) report is a free weekly CFTC release that splits open interest in US futures and options into trader groups, such as commercial hedgers and non-commercial speculators. It shows positions as of Tuesday and is generally published on Friday, so it describes positioning, not what price will do next.
What the commitment of traders report shows
Every futures contract has a buyer and a seller, and the total number of contracts still open is called open interest. The COT report takes that open interest for each market and shows how much of it each group of traders holds long and short.
It covers US-listed futures, so it includes agricultural markets, energy, metals, stock index futures, interest rate futures and currency futures. If you are new to the instruments themselves, our guide to how futures contracts, expiry and rollover work is the place to start.
Large traders above the CFTC’s reporting levels are counted by category. Everyone below those levels is lumped together as nonreportable positions, often described as small traders.
When the COT report is released
According to the CFTC’s Commitments of Traders page, the report is generally published each Friday at 3:30 pm Eastern Time, using data from the preceding Tuesday. That is usually 8:30 pm in the UK, after the London session has closed.
The gap of about three days is processing time, and US public holidays can push the release back. By the time you read it, the positions are already several days old and the market may have moved a long way since Tuesday.
The four types of COT report
The CFTC publishes the same underlying data in several formats, and beginners often mix them up.
| Report | Main markets | Trader groups |
|---|---|---|
| Legacy | All reported markets | Commercial, non-commercial, nonreportable |
| Supplemental | 13 agricultural contracts | Legacy groups plus index traders |
| Disaggregated | Agriculture, energy, metals | Producer/merchant, swap dealers, managed money, other reportables |
| Traders in Financial Futures (TFF) | Currencies, interest rates, stock indices | Dealers, asset managers, leveraged funds, other reportables |
Commercial and non-commercial in the legacy report
Commercial traders are broadly those using futures to hedge a business exposure, such as a grain merchant or an oil producer. Non-commercial traders are the large speculators, including many funds.
The newer, more detailed reports
The disaggregated report splits physical commodity markets more finely, with managed money being the group most traders watch as the speculative side. For currency futures, the TFF report separates leveraged funds, such as hedge funds, from asset managers such as pension funds.
How to read COT positioning step by step
We keep the process short, because the report is context, not a trigger. Here is the routine we use for any market.
- Pick the right report. Use TFF or legacy for currencies and indices, disaggregated for gold, oil and grains.
- Work out net positions. Net position equals long contracts minus short contracts for the group you follow.
- Look at the change. Compare this week’s net figure with last week’s and with the last few months.
- Judge it against history. A net long that is large compared with the past year is more interesting than the raw number.
- Check the chart. Ask whether price structure agrees with the positioning before it affects any decision.
Currency futures and spot forex
The COT report does not show spot forex positions. CME currency futures are generally quoted as the dollar value of the foreign currency, so a net long in sterling futures is a bet on GBP/USD rising. Our guide to how to trade forex as a UK beginner covers how spot pairs are quoted.
Worked example: reading a hypothetical sterling futures report
All figures here are hypothetical. Suppose the large speculators in sterling futures hold 60,000 contracts long and 25,000 short this week, against 55,000 long and 27,000 short the week before.
- Net this week: 60,000 minus 25,000 is a net long of 35,000 contracts.
- Net last week: 55,000 minus 27,000 is a net long of 28,000 contracts.
- Change: net length rose by 7,000 contracts in a week.
- Context: if the highest net long in the past year was 38,000, positioning is close to that extreme.
We would not sell GBP/USD because of that. We would note that a lot of speculative money is already long, so a disappointing Bank of England decision could trigger a sharp unwind. Our article on how interest rates move currencies explains why rate expectations drive these positions.
If the daily chart then broke structure lower, a trade might follow. Example: on a £5,000 account risking 1%, the maximum loss is £50, so with a 40-pip stop the size is £1.25 per pip. Spread bets and CFDs are leveraged, and gaps or fast markets can cause losses larger than the planned stop.
The limits of COT data
The report is useful, but it is easy to read more into it than it can bear. The CFTC’s explanatory notes on the COT reports set out several of the caveats.
- Classification is imperfect. A trader generally becomes commercial by filing a statement with the CFTC, and the same trader can be commercial in one market and non-commercial in another.
- Coverage is partial. Reportable positions usually represent 70 to 90 percent of open interest, and the make-up of the rest is unknown.
- It is weekly and late. Three days of price action happen before you see Tuesday’s numbers.
- Extremes can last. Positioning can stay one-sided for months while the trend continues, which is why our rules for riding a trend ignore crowding on its own.
- Hedgers are not forecasters. A commercial net short often just reflects producers protecting future sales.
Common mistakes with the COT report
- Treating it as a timing tool. Weekly data cannot time an intraday entry or a swing trade on its own.
- Fading every extreme. Betting against crowded positioning without a price reason is guessing.
- Using the wrong report. Mixing legacy and TFF categories gives figures that do not compare.
- Forgetting the dollar. Sterling futures are quoted against the US dollar, not against the euro or yen.
- Ignoring the calendar. Big events between Tuesday and Friday can make the data stale, so check the economic calendar for the week ahead too.
Frequently asked questions
Is the COT report free?
Yes. The CFTC publishes all versions on its website at no cost, along with historical files. Many charting platforms also display the data.
Why is COT data from Tuesday but released on Friday?
The CFTC collects positions as of Tuesday and needs about three days to process them. Holidays can delay the release further.
Does the COT report work for day trading?
Not directly. Weekly, delayed data is too slow for intraday decisions, although some day traders use it as background on which side of a market is crowded.
What do commercial traders do?
They are mostly businesses hedging real exposure, such as producers, processors and merchants. Their positions often move against price because they hedge more as prices rise.
Next steps
COT data works best alongside the bigger picture, so read our guide to fundamental vs technical analysis and our explanation of interest rate differentials and the carry trade.
When you are ready to turn context into a process, our price action trading course covers assessing price position and a filters and trigger process, and the basics section is free to start.
This article is for education only and is not financial advice. Trading leveraged products such as CFDs and spread bets carries a high risk of losing money.
