How to Read the COT Reports

The Commitments of Traders (COT) reports are published by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to help the public understand how futures markets are positioned. They break down the open interest in a market by type of trader — so you can see who is long, who is short, and which way the big players are leaning.

This guide teaches you to read them the way they appear on COT-Reports.com: where the data comes from, what every column means, how the colors work, and how to line a report up against a price chart to confirm what you’re seeing.

By looking at the net positions of each group, you get a read on market sentiment — whether a category of trader is, on balance, bullish or bearish on the market.

The CFTC is an independent U.S. government agency, established in 1974, that regulates the futures and options markets (the CME, ICE and others). The COT data is collected through its large-trader reporting system.

Reporting firms — futures commission merchants (FCMs), clearing members, foreign brokers and the exchanges — file position data with the CFTC, but only for traders at or above the CFTC’s reportable levels. The CFTC compiles those filings and publishes the result.

How the weekly cycle works

Positions are snapshotted on Tuesday, and the report is released the following Friday at 3:30 PM Eastern Time. Firms file daily; the CFTC compiles, verifies and publishes weekly. So every Friday you get a clean Tuesday-to-Tuesday view of how positioning changed over the week.

The reports cover a wide range of markets — currencies, indices, metals, energies and agricultural products — with the number of open contracts and the long/short breakdown for each category of trader.

From the raw CFTC file to a report you can read

Everything in this guide starts from one file the CFTC releases every week — the official Commitments of Traders reports, published free on the government’s own site, cftc.gov. On its own, that file looks like this — a real Legacy (Futures-Only) report for Wheat:

The raw CFTC fileClick to enlarge

It’s all there — but it’s a wall of numbers. No colour, no net position worked out for you, no sense of where this week sits in the trend, and you’d open a separate file for every past week. COT-Reports takes that exact data and turns it into this — the very same market, today:

Live on the siteClick to enlarge

WHEAT (CHICAGO) - CBOT

CONTRACTS OF 5,000 bushels ©An original format byCOT-Reports.com WHEAT (CHICAGO) - CBOT
DATE	LONG	SHORT	CHANGE LONG	CHANGE SHORT	NET POSITIONS	NET CHANGE	NET % CHANGE	% OI LONG	% OI SHORT	OPEN INTEREST
31 Mar 2026	145,000	154,415	+7,772	+99	▲-9,415	+7,673	+81.50%	29.68%	31.60%	488,618
7 Apr 2026	138,222	156,929	-6,778	+2,514	▼-18,707	-9,292	-98.69%	27.51%	31.23%	502,479
14 Apr 2026	128,989	147,355	-9,233	-9,574	▲-18,366	+341	+1.82%	27.71%	31.65%	465,537
21 Apr 2026	121,024	146,561	-7,965	-794	▼-25,537	-7,171	-39.04%	26.77%	32.42%	452,052
28 Apr 2026	132,336	131,470	+11,312	-15,091	▲866	+26,403	+103.39%	31.24%	31.04%	423,571
5 May 2026	128,830	145,498	-3,506	+14,028	▼-16,668	-17,534	-2024.71%	29.70%	33.54%	433,831
12 May 2026	134,577	148,998	+5,747	+3,500	▲-14,421	+2,247	+13.48%	30.12%	33.35%	446,762
19 May 2026	143,267	143,004	+8,690	-5,994	▲263	+14,684	+101.82%	30.19%	30.13%	474,622
26 May 2026	144,186	153,644	+919	+10,640	▼-9,458	-9,721	-3696.20%	29.69%	31.63%	485,691
2 Jun 2026	124,550	165,312	-19,636	+11,668	▼-40,762	-31,304	-330.98%	25.82%	34.27%	482,332
9 Jun 2026	115,711	173,564	-8,839	+8,252	▼-57,853	-17,091	-41.93%	25.47%	38.20%	454,377
16 Jun 2026	116,522	167,334	+811	-6,230	▲-50,812	+7,041	+12.17%	26.21%	37.63%	444,641
23 Jun 2026	117,821	166,232	+1,299	-1,102	▲-48,411	+2,401	+4.73%	27.51%	38.81%	428,305
30 Jun 2026	109,433	164,437	-8,388	-1,795	▼-55,004	-6,593	-13.62%	26.91%	40.43%	406,723
7 Jul 2026	111,128	160,858	+1,695	-3,579	▲-49,730	+5,274	+9.59%	26.94%	38.99%	412,570
14 Jul 2026	117,880	134,219	+6,752	-26,639	▲-16,339	+33,391	+67.14%	27.46%	31.26%	429,298
21 Jul 2026	109,575	116,584	-8,305	-17,635	▲-7,009	+9,330	+57.10%	24.06%	25.60%	455,433
28 Jul 2026	119,046	121,038	+9,471	+4,454	▲-1,992	+5,017	+71.58%	25.68%	26.11%	463,502
4 Aug 2026	117,112	131,871	-1,934	+10,833	▼-14,759	-12,767	-640.91%	25.11%	28.28%	466,323
11 Aug 2026	114,979	139,889	-2,133	+8,018	▼-24,910	-10,151	-68.78%	24.18%	29.42%	475,566
18 Aug 2026	114,685	133,450	-294	-6,439	▲-18,765	+6,145	+24.67%	25.09%	29.19%	457,148
25 Aug 2026	121,212	127,991	+6,527	-5,459	▲-6,779	+11,986	+63.87%	27.33%	28.86%	443,531
1 Sep 2026	146,391	121,688	+25,179	-6,303	▲24,703	+31,482	+464.40%	31.11%	25.86%	470,560
8 Sep 2026	131,898	121,428	-14,493	-260	▼10,470	-14,233	-57.62%	27.21%	25.05%	484,680
15 Sep 2026	126,842	125,614	-5,056	+4,186	▼1,228	-9,242	-88.27%	26.15%	25.89%	485,138
22 Sep 2026	120,127	127,487	-6,715	+1,873	▼-7,360	-8,588	-699.35%	24.86%	26.38%	483,279
WebsiteCOT-Reports.comTelegramt.me/cot_reportsInstagram@cot_reportX.com@cot_reportsYouTube@cotreports

Same source, same numbers — a completely different read. The colour does the first pass for you, the columns the CFTC never works out are computed automatically, and a whole year sits on one screen instead of in dozens of separate files. That transformation — the colours, the computed columns, the one-click currency flip — is what the rest of this guide walks you through.

The CFTC’s COT data is U.S. government information in the public domain. COT-Reports.com is an independent service that mirrors and reformats it — we are not affiliated with, or endorsed by, the CFTC. You can cross-check any figure here against the official weekly release on cftc.gov.

Commercial traders (hedgers)

Commercial traders, also called hedgers, take part in the futures market to manage the financial risk of their actual business — producers, processors and users of a commodity (farmers, manufacturers, airlines). They use futures to lock in prices and reduce exposure to price swings, not to speculate.

Non-Commercial traders (large speculators)

Non-Commercial traders, also called speculators, are there to profit from price moves rather than to hedge a business. They include hedge funds, professional traders and other financial institutions, and can be long or short depending on their outlook.

Why non-commercials matter most

Because speculators have the size to move price, the Non-Commercial net position is the headline read for most traders: the direction of their positioning often points to where the market is leaning. That’s why the Simplified report defaults to the Non-Commercial view.

Here is a live Simplified report. Below it, we walk through every column — what each one means and how to read it — from DATE all the way through to the Premium Price column.

Live on the siteClick to enlarge

EURO FX - CME

CONTRACTS OF EUR 125,000 ©An original format byCOT-Reports.com EURO FX - CME
DATE	LONG	SHORT	CHANGE LONG	CHANGE SHORT	NET POSITIONS	NET CHANGE	NET % CHANGE	% OI LONG	% OI SHORT	OPEN INTEREST
31 Mar 2026	200,168	199,661	+143	+8,915	▼507	-8,772	-1730.18%	25.85%	25.79%	774,237
7 Apr 2026	200,946	208,487	+778	+8,826	▼-7,541	-8,048	-1587.38%	25.93%	26.90%	775,043
14 Apr 2026	214,639	188,621	+13,693	-19,866	▲26,018	+33,559	+445.02%	27.21%	23.91%	788,828
21 Apr 2026	217,407	176,083	+2,768	-12,538	▲41,324	+15,306	+58.83%	27.50%	22.27%	790,622
28 Apr 2026	217,091	181,379	-316	+5,296	▼35,712	-5,612	-13.58%	27.09%	22.63%	801,430
5 May 2026	217,474	185,272	+383	+3,893	▼32,202	-3,510	-9.83%	26.65%	22.71%	815,942
12 May 2026	224,002	183,802	+6,528	-1,470	▲40,200	+7,998	+24.84%	27.01%	22.16%	829,377
19 May 2026	233,251	199,738	+9,249	+15,936	▼33,513	-6,687	-16.63%	28.24%	24.18%	826,019
26 May 2026	223,055	193,629	-10,196	-6,109	▼29,426	-4,087	-12.20%	27.06%	23.49%	824,224
2 Jun 2026	235,442	186,576	+12,387	-7,053	▲48,866	+19,440	+66.06%	27.95%	22.15%	842,424
9 Jun 2026	219,564	205,632	-15,878	+19,056	▼13,932	-34,934	-71.49%	25.19%	23.59%	871,507
16 Jun 2026	228,005	193,652	+8,441	-11,980	▲34,353	+20,421	+146.58%	25.48%	21.65%	894,671
23 Jun 2026	247,332	217,174	+19,327	+23,522	▼30,158	-4,195	-12.21%	31.49%	27.65%	785,477
30 Jun 2026	235,658	234,559	-11,674	+17,385	▼1,099	-29,059	-96.36%	29.83%	29.69%	790,076
7 Jul 2026	223,430	239,657	-12,228	+5,098	▼-16,227	-17,326	-1576.52%	28.11%	30.15%	794,833
14 Jul 2026	230,307	242,912	+6,877	+3,255	▲-12,605	+3,622	+22.32%	28.81%	30.38%	799,495
21 Jul 2026	220,465	261,803	-9,842	+18,891	▼-41,338	-28,733	-227.95%	27.56%	32.72%	800,061
28 Jul 2026	204,975	277,422	-15,490	+15,619	▼-72,447	-31,109	-75.26%	25.00%	33.84%	819,806
4 Aug 2026	201,847	259,938	-3,128	-17,484	▲-58,091	+14,356	+19.82%	25.23%	32.50%	799,909
11 Aug 2026	197,186	257,196	-4,661	-2,742	▼-60,010	-1,919	-3.30%	24.59%	32.07%	801,884
18 Aug 2026	196,241	255,329	-945	-1,867	▲-59,088	+922	+1.54%	24.38%	31.72%	804,940
25 Aug 2026	198,919	235,271	+2,678	-20,058	▲-36,352	+22,736	+38.48%	24.30%	28.74%	818,524
1 Sep 2026	203,477	228,402	+4,558	-6,869	▲-24,925	+11,427	+31.43%	23.51%	26.39%	865,412
8 Sep 2026	198,509	241,125	-4,968	+12,723	▼-42,616	-17,691	-70.98%	21.06%	25.58%	942,464
15 Sep 2026	209,000	235,993	+10,491	-5,132	▲-26,993	+15,623	+36.66%	22.72%	25.65%	920,035
22 Sep 2026	220,708	273,042	+11,708	+37,049	▼-52,334	-25,341	-93.88%	26.86%	33.23%	821,689
WebsiteCOT-Reports.comTelegramt.me/cot_reportsInstagram@cot_reportX.com@cot_reportsYouTube@cotreports

DATE

The Tuesday the data was snapshotted — the close of the reporting week. (Released the following Friday at 3:30 PM ET.)

LONG & SHORT

LONG is the number of outstanding buy contracts held by the selected category; SHORT is the number of sell contracts. A high long count from speculators leans bullish; a high short count leans bearish.

CHANGE LONG & CHANGE SHORT

The week-over-week change in long and short positions — how many contracts were opened or closed since the previous report. Each is simply this week’s figure minus last week’s.

NET POSITIONS

The headline number: Long − Short for the selected category. Positive = more longs than shorts (net bullish); negative = more shorts than longs (net bearish). A net of +10,000 means 10,000 more long contracts than short; −10,000 is the reverse. This is usually the first column traders look at.

NET CHANGE

How much the Net Positions figure moved since last report. It equals Change Long − Change Short — the same as this week’s Net minus last week’s. Positive (green) = the category got more net-long (more bullish); negative (red) = more net-short. The ▲/▼ arrow in the Net cell points the same way. On grouped views it’s measured between the first and last report of the period.

NET % CHANGE

The Net Change expressed as a percentage of the previous week’s net — it puts the move in proportion. The formula:

Net % Change = (Net Change ÷ |previous week’s Net|) × 100

• The denominator uses the absolute value of last week’s net, so the sign reflects the direction of the move, not the sign of the base figure.
• If last week’s net was exactly zero, it shows 0.00% (no dividing by zero).
• Shown to two decimals with a leading sign; grouped views use the period’s endpoints.

A +20% swing is far more meaningful than a raw contract number can tell you — it shows how big the shift is relative to where the position already stood.

% OI LONG & % OI SHORT

The category’s long (or short) positions as a percentage of total open interest — category longs ÷ total OI. This tells you how big this group’s footprint is relative to everyone trading the market, not just relative to itself.

OPEN INTEREST

The total number of outstanding contracts in the market — summed across all categories (commercial + non-commercial + non-reportable), each contract counted once.

PRICE (Premium)

The market’s settlement (closing) price on the report’s Tuesday date — shown next to the positioning so you can line up what traders did against what price did, in the same row. It’s end-of-day settlement data (not live or intraday), shaded on the same scale as the other columns; decimals adapt to the instrument. A Premium feature — free visitors see it locked behind a PRO badge.

Why read it here, not in the raw CFTC file

The CFTC publishes the same data as a plain spreadsheet of numbers. This Simplified table is that data, made readable — it’s what the table above gives you over a raw download:

• Color heat-mapping turns a wall of six-digit figures into an instant read (the whole of Part II).
• A full year (or more) on one screen — scroll a single market’s history without juggling weekly files.
• Columns the CFTC file doesn’t contain, computed for you: Net Positions, Net Change, Net % Change, and the ▲/▼ direction arrow.
• The Price column lines settlement price up against positioning in the same row (Premium).
• One-click 180° View to read currency reports from the dollar-pair side, and Group Reports to aggregate the weeks (both covered in Part II).
• Switchable trader category and time period, and a clean shareable image — the table carries the site and social footer, ready to screenshot and post.

The single most important habit with currencies: every currency in the reports is quoted against the U.S. dollar — as that currency over USD. The Canadian dollar report is CAD/USD, not USD/CAD; the Swiss Franc report is CHF/USD, not USD/CHF.

The 180-degree flip

So the perspective flips 180° versus how most pairs are quoted on your chart. Take USD/JPY: the Japanese Yen report shows JPY/USD.

If you plan to go short USD/JPY, you want to see rising long positions in the Japanese Yen report (long JPY/USD = a stronger yen = a falling USD/JPY).

Once you internalize that the report is the inverse of the dollar-quoted pair, everything clicks.

And you don’t have to keep doing that flip in your head. COT-Reports.com puts a 180° View button on every report that inverts the color reading for you: the numbers stay in their native form (JPY/USD), but green and red swap so the colors reflect the pair you actually trade (USD/JPY). Turn it on for the Yen report and a strengthening dollar lights up the way you’d expect on a USD/JPY chart — no mental gymnastics.

Trading non-USD pairs

When neither leg is the dollar, weigh both currencies’ reports. To go long GBP/CAD you’d want a strong GBP report (net long) and a weak CAD report (net short). You can read two markets together on the Comparison page.

The U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) measures the dollar against a basket of major currencies, built from six pairs: EUR/USD · USD/JPY · GBP/USD · USD/CAD · USD/SEK · USD/CHF. The weights are fixed (the standard ICE weights, unchanged since the euro launched in 1999):

The euro is by far the largest component — almost 58% — so the index moves largely with EUR/USD.

A quick recap of Part I:

• Where the data comes from — the CFTC’s large-trader reporting system.
• How it’s provided — firms file daily; the CFTC publishes weekly (Tuesday snapshot, Friday 3:30 PM ET).
• Who the traders are — hedgers protecting a business vs. speculators betting on price.
• Every column — including Net Change, Net % Change and the Premium Price column.
• Reading currencies — the 180° flip (report = currency/USD), and weighing both legs of a cross.
• The Dollar Index — composition, weights, and its role as a confirmation tool.

You can now open any market on COT-Reports.com and read a row of data with confidence. Next: Part II — Understanding the Colors, where the red-yellow-green scale turns these numbers into an instant read on sentiment.