Using COT reports and charts

Open COT Reports in the site navigation, choose a report listing, and select a market. Check its full name, CFTC contract code, report family and positioning date before comparing figures.

Similar names can refer to different contracts, including E-mini, Micro and consolidated entries. Follow the same contract and report family through time.

Start from COT, COT Futures, or COT Legacy Futures. For context, see Choosing a report type, Report dates and publication timing, and Interpreting positions and changes.

The table separates contract counts, shares of open interest, and trader counts. They measure different things.

• Long / Short: positions reported on each side. Net is long minus short.
• Spread: offsetting long and short positions reported separately for applicable groups.
• Changes: differences from the preceding report, not trading volume.
• Open Interest: outstanding contracts. The row's Open Int percentage uses total market open interest as its denominator.
• # Traders: reporting traders in that category, not contracts. A trader may appear in more than one column, so counts cannot simply be added.

Read the contract units above the table. Green/red changes indicate the sign of a change, not buy/sell instructions. See the CFTC definitions.

Use charts to compare positions through time. A chart's visible range and the report table's selected date are separate controls.

Positions: Long and Positions: Short show each side separately. Net Positions shows their difference. Check the legend and the date/value displayed at the point you inspect; use available legend entries and chart range controls to focus the display.

When sufficient price data is available, Prices & Net Positions includes a price panel and period choices such as 1 year, 2 years and MAX. MAX means the history available to that chart. Markets without an available price overlay show Net Positions instead; this does not mean their COT data is missing.

Price and position panels have different units. Check each axis and date rather than comparing their vertical heights. Price coverage can differ from COT history and is not a live quote service.

Historical reports and charts explains selecting a past report.