A Review Of Commitment Of Traders Report

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By Ronald Ellis


Commodity traders have an open access to a distinctive market report each week, which details the position of major corporate speculators and small investors in various future markets. This information is popularly known as Commitment of traders report. The report is an important analytical tool for traders since it offers up-to-date information concerning the trends in every commodity markets. It is also available on future contracts like interest rates, stock indexes, and currencies.

Many speculators utilize the COT report in deciding whether or not to pick a long or short position. One assumption is that small speculators are usually wrong and the ideal position is dissimilar to the net non-reportable position. Another notion is that commercial merchants have a clear mastery of their market, and therefore their positions attract more profits.

The COT report outlines both the net long and short positions for the available futures contract for three types of merchants. If the traders are enormously long or they are just escalating their long positions, a robust bias on the market is expected. Increase of short positions result in a bearish bias on the future market.

Understanding the different type of traders who exist in the commodity market is one-step towards mastering and interpreting the report correctly. The commercial group represents firms and institutions who utilize futures markets to balance out risks in either the cash or spot market. For instance, a corn producer may use shorting of corn futures contracts as way of protecting his or her profits in case the prices decrease in the near term.

Hedge funds, corporate investors, and other agencies who invest massively in the futures market fall into the category of non-commercial speculators. While these investors do not directly engage in the creations, supply, and management of essential assets and commodities, a special attention is paid to their trends. A careful review of their investment trends can provide vital information about a particular class of asset.

Non-reporting category is made up of small investors who never report their positions. They have a habit of betting against trends instead of with it. Thus, only a few people pay attention to this type of investors. The category comprises of private investors who trade in different types of products in the futures market.

There are different categories of COT reports ranging from equity investors (stock prospects), currency traders, and commodity traders comprised of oil and gold. Relying on raw data from CFTC might be confusing. Therefore, it is imperative to view the changes within the information for a significant period instead of a single snapshot.

Changes within open interest are an instrumental tool in mastering the price behaviour of a certain market and tactics for profiting from long-term trends. These changes can be utilized to gauge the general strength as well as the weakness of the trend. For instance, if a market has been experiencing long-term downtrend or uptrend with growing open interest levels, a decrease or balance would be a sign that the trend is approaching its end.




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