The Disaggregated Commitment of Traders Report is a breakdown of each Tuesday’s open interest in the major futures markets as reported by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Data Updates
The COT data is from Tuesday, and is released Friday by the CFTC. Reporting firms send Tuesday open interest data on Wednesday morning. The CFTC then corrects and verifies the data for release by Friday afternoon. The Barchart site's data is then updated, after the official CFTC release.
The data is divided into four categories, accessible using the drop-down menu at the top of the page:
- Producer/Merchant/Processor
- Swap Dealers
- Managed Money
- Other Reportables
When graphically shown on charts using the COT Charts page, you'll see the Net Traders Positions: the difference between the number of long positions minus the number of short positions, held by each group. The Net Positions page provides the latest reporting period's data in tabular format. Flipcharts and Download are available on the page.
Barchart Plus and Premier Members can choose from a Detailed Report where you can page through the last 52 reported weeks of data, or a Summary Report, showing just the last reporting period. The page is segmented by commodity grouping (Energies, Grains, Meats, Metals, and Softs).
The Detailed page shows:
- Contract (clicking on the chart icon opens a chart with the Commitment of Traders data shown graphically, clicking on the name takes you to the symbol's Quote Overview.)
- 52-Week High:The highest Net Positions for the last 52-Weeks.
- 52-Week Low" The lowest Net Positions for the last 52-Weeks.
- Week Ending: Next are columns for the last 52 reported weeks of data, showing the Net Positions for that week.
- If that week was the 52-Week High or Low Net Position, the column is colored green or red.
- If the prior period's value was negative (and the current period is positive), the column is colored blue.
- If the prior period's value was positive (and the current period is negative), the column is colored purple.
The Summary page shows:
- Contract (clicking on the chart icon opens a chart with the Commitment of Traders data shown graphically, clicking on the name takes you to the symbol's Quote Overview.)
- Net Positions: Long Positions - Short Positions. If the Net Positions is newly positive or negative from the last reporting period, it will be highlighted in blue.
- Net Change: the difference from the previous reporting period for the Net Positions
- Long: the Long Positions open for the current reporting period
- Change: the difference in Long Positions from the previous reporting period
- Short: the Short Positions open for the current reporting period
- Change: the difference in Short Positions from the previous reporting period
- Net Positions 52W Range: the histogram shows the 52-week High and Low Net Positions, along the a marker showing where the current period's Net Positions call within the range. This can quickly give you a visual of where the current period falls within the last 52 weeks.