Live data from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission public reporting feed. Positions are futures-only and update each Friday at 3:30 PM ET for the prior Tuesday. Source: publicreporting.cftc.gov.
COT does not predict price; the edge is spotting when one group has leaned too far. The two that matter most are the hedgers, who lean against the move, and the speculators, who chase it. The table shows where every group sits this week, and the chart tracks them over time, with a "Spec vs hedge" view that collapses them into those two camps. The read is always relative: where each sits versus its own history.
Hedgers (Producer/Merchant, Swap Dealers, Dealers) hold futures to offset real exposure, so they lean against the move and sell into strength. Speculators (Managed Money, Leveraged Funds) chase momentum, so they tend to be most net long near highs and most net short near lows.
Net is long minus short. A large positive net means the funds are crowded long; a large negative net means crowded short. What matters is the size versus its own past, which is exactly what the chart and the COT index next to it show.
It rescales the speculator net to a 0 to 100 score over the lookback. Near 100, funds are about as long as they get in that window; near 0, about as short. Readings at the edges mark crowded positioning that is prone to unwinding. It measures how stretched, not when it turns.
Watch whether funds added to or trimmed a position. Price rising while specs keep buying confirms the trend. Price rising while specs cut longs is a divergence worth a second look. The Net Change tile is that one-week shift.
Every long has a short, so when speculators are heavily net long the hedgers are heavily net short, and the reverse. At the big extremes, the hedging side, the one with skin in the physical market, is the one most traders respect.
The snapshot is Tuesday's close, released Friday afternoon. Use COT to frame the positioning heading into the new week and pair it with price; it is context, not an entry or exit trigger.
Data is sourced live from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and is provided as-is for educational purposes only. It is not investment advice. The CFTC report is the authoritative record; see cftc.gov.