The Commitments of Traders (COT) Report Explained

Futures markets are unusually transparent about who is participating. Each week, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission publishes the Commitments of Traders report, a breakdown of open positions by type of trader. It won't tell you what happens next, but it shows how hedgers, funds, and other large traders were positioned.

What the COT report is

Futures brokers and clearing firms report large positions to the CFTC. The CFTC aggregates those reports and publishes them by market, showing how many contracts different categories of traders hold long and short. Individual traders are never identified.

According to the CFTC, the report is generally published each Friday at 3:30 p.m. Eastern, with data as of the close of business on the preceding Tuesday. That three-day gap matters: by the time you read it, the market may have moved.

The four main report types

"Non-reportable" positions are the small traders whose positions fall below reporting thresholds. Their total is calculated as what's left over.

How traders read the report

• Net positions. Longs minus shorts for a group, such as managed money's net position in crude oil.
• Changes week to week. Whether a group is adding or reducing exposure.
• Extremes. Comparing current positioning with its historical range. Some traders watch for crowded positions as a sign of potential reversal risk.
• Hedger vs. speculator. Commercial hedgers often take positions opposite to price trends because they're managing business risk, not betting on direction.
• Open interest. The report also shows total open interest, which you can read alongside volume. See volume and open interest.

A simple way to start

1. Pick one market you follow, such as gold or the S&P 500.
2. Find it in the right report: Disaggregated for commodities, TFF for financials.
3. Record one group's net position each week in a spreadsheet.
4. After a few months, compare the line with price. Note when they agreed, and when they didn't.

This builds intuition far better than reading someone else's COT commentary.

Reading one row of the report

The raw report looks intimidating, but each market follows the same layout. For a given contract you'll see total open interest at the top, then, for each trader category, the number of long contracts, short contracts, and (in most reports) spreading positions. Below that are the changes from the prior week, each group's share of total open interest, and the number of traders in each category.

A practical way to read it:

1. Find the group that matters for your market. In physical commodities many traders watch managed money and producer/merchant positions. In financial futures, leveraged funds and asset managers get the most attention.
2. Calculate the net position. Long minus short. A positive number means the group is net long.
3. Check the weekly change. Is the group adding to its position or cutting it?
4. Put it in context. Compare this week's net position with the past year or several years. A number only means something relative to its own history.

Why hedgers and speculators look so different

Beginners are often surprised to see commercial hedgers holding large short positions while prices rise. That's usually normal. A grain elevator, oil producer, or mining company may sell futures to lock in prices for what it will produce or store, so its short position grows as business grows or as prices rise to attractive levels. These positions aren't a forecast that prices will fall; they're risk management.

Speculative groups such as managed money tend to be more directional and often follow trends, which is one reason their positioning is watched for signs of crowding. Neither group is "smart money" or "dumb money" in any reliable sense. Each has different goals, and the report simply shows how those goals add up across the market.

What the COT report can't tell you

• It's delayed. Tuesday data published Friday is already old in fast markets.
• Categories are broad. A "commercial" may hold positions for many reasons, and classifications aren't perfect.
• Extremes can last. A crowded position can get more crowded for months while price keeps trending.
• No timing signal. Even when positioning does matter, the report doesn't say when it will matter.
• Options and spreads complicate it. Some reports combine futures and options, and spread positions are counted separately.

Last reviewed October 17, 2026. Educational content only; not investment advice. Contract specifications and margins change, so confirm current figures with the exchange and your broker. See our risk disclosure.