What is the COT Report?

What is the Commitments of Traders (COT) Report?

The Commitments of Traders (COT) report is a weekly publication by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) that provides a breakdown of the open interest in U.S. futures markets. It shows how different groups of traders — commercial hedgers, large speculators, and small retail traders — are positioned in every major futures contract, from crude oil and gold to the Euro and Treasury bonds.

The report has been published since 1962, making it one of the longest-running and most transparent sources of market positioning data in the world. It is completely free, publicly available, and used by institutional and retail traders alike to gauge market sentiment, identify crowded trades, and anticipate potential reversals.

Who Publishes the COT Report?

The CFTC — the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission — is the government agency responsible for regulating futures and options markets in the United States. Every week, futures brokers and clearing members report the positions of their large clients to the CFTC. The Commission then aggregates this data, anonymizes it, and publishes the COT report for public use.

No individual trader or firm is identified in the report. The data is grouped by trader category, showing the total long positions, short positions, and spreading (simultaneous long and short) for each group.

When is the COT Report Released?

The COT report is released every Friday at 3:30 PM Eastern Time (ET). The data reflects positions held as of the previous Tuesday close. This means there is a 3-day lag between when the positions are captured and when they become public.

While the 3-day lag may seem like a disadvantage, it is important to understand that the COT report is not meant for day trading. It is a strategic, macro-level tool that reveals structural shifts in positioning over weeks and months — not hours.

COT Release Schedule

The CFTC publishes a full release schedule at the beginning of each year. On weeks with U.S. federal holidays, the release may shift to Monday. COT-Reports.com tracks this schedule automatically and sends alerts to subscribers before each release. You can view the full schedule on our CFTC Release Schedule page.

What Data Does the COT Report Contain?

For each futures market, the report shows three key data points per trader category:

• Long positions — contracts betting on rising prices
• Short positions — contracts betting on falling prices
• Spreading — simultaneous long and short positions (straddles, calendar spreads)

From these, traders derive net positions (longs minus shorts) which show the overall directional bias of each group. A rising net-long position in Managed Money, for example, signals growing bullish conviction among hedge funds.

The Four Report Formats

The CFTC publishes the COT data in four distinct formats, each offering a different level of detail:

For a detailed breakdown of every trader category in each format, see our guide: COT Report Types & Trader Categories.

How Do Traders Use the COT Report?

The COT report is used primarily as a sentiment indicator. Unlike price charts which show what happened, the COT report shows who is positioned and how — revealing the structural forces behind price movements.

1. Identifying Extreme Positioning

When a trader category reaches historically extreme net-long or net-short levels, it often precedes a reversal. For example, when Commercial hedgers are at record net-long positions in gold futures while Managed Money is record net-short, it frequently signals a bottom.

2. Tracking Smart Money

Managed Money (Disaggregated) and Leveraged Funds (TFF) represent hedge fund positioning — the so-called "smart money." Tracking their week-over-week changes reveals where aggressive speculative capital is flowing and whether the trend has consensus or is being faded.

3. Contrarian Signals from Commercials

Commercial hedgers (producers, merchants) are often the most informed participants because they deal directly with the physical commodity. When commercials dramatically increase their net-long or net-short positions, experienced COT analysts interpret this as a strong signal — they are hedging because they expect a move.

4. Confirming or Questioning a Trend

If price is rising but Non-Commercial net longs are declining, the trend may be running on fumes. If price is falling but Managed Money net shorts are unwinding, the selling pressure may be exhausting. The COT report provides the positioning context that price alone cannot.

Limitations of the COT Report

The COT report is powerful but not without limitations. The 3-day data lag means it is not suitable for short-term trading. The trader categories are broad — "Managed Money" includes thousands of different funds with different strategies. And the report only covers U.S. exchange-traded futures, not OTC derivatives or foreign markets.

Despite these limitations, the COT report remains the most transparent, longest-running source of institutional positioning data available to retail traders. No other free dataset comes close to revealing how the market is structurally positioned.