Weekly COT Data
Net long / short positioning of large speculators across the 8 major currency futures, sourced from the U.S. CFTC Commitments of Traders report. The same dataset that institutional desks reference. Updated weekly.
The CFTC requires every reportable holder of a U.S. futures contract to disclose their open position weekly. The data is aggregated by trader category and published every Friday. AlphaScala pulls the latest report from the CFTC's public Open Data API, stores the weekly snapshot, and renders net positioning per currency.
net_specs = noncomm_long - noncomm_short net_spec_change = Δnoncomm_long - Δnoncomm_short (vs prior report) % of OI long = noncomm_long / open_interest
Three trader categories are tracked: non-commercial (the large speculators we headline), commercial (corporates and institutions hedging real currency exposure), and non-reportable (small traders, retail-equivalent). The contrast between commercials and large specs is itself a useful read — they are usually on opposite sides of every position.
EUR latest report (illustrative): non-commercial long 217,091 contracts vs short 181,379. Net specs = +35,712 — large specs are modestly long the euro. Week-over-week, longs trimmed 316 and shorts grew 5,296 — the net stance is becoming less bullish even though it remains positive.
Trader read: when net specs are extended in one direction and the week-over-week change starts reversing, it is one of the textbook setups for a positioning unwind. Combine with price structure before acting.
What is the COT report?
The Commitments of Traders (COT) report is a weekly disclosure published by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). It breaks down open positions in regulated futures markets by trader category: non-commercial (large speculators, mostly hedge funds and CTAs), commercial (corporates hedging real exposure), and non-reportable (small traders).
Why does forex COT data matter if forex is mostly traded OTC?
Currency futures on the CME and ICE are highly liquid and used by institutional players to express macro views. Speculator positioning in EUR or GBP futures is one of the cleanest publicly-available reads on hedge fund FX flow. It is treated as a leading indicator of macro positioning and a contrarian signal at extremes.
How fresh is the data?
The CFTC publishes Tuesday positions the following Friday afternoon US time, so there is a built-in 3-day lag. AlphaScala pulls the latest report every Saturday morning UTC and the table above always reflects the most recent published week.
How do I read net spec positioning?
Net spec = large speculators' long contracts minus short contracts. Positive means hedge funds are net long, negative means net short. The week-over-week change is the more actionable number — a fast build in long positioning often precedes the trend continuing, while extreme readings frequently mark turning points as the crowd over-extends.
Where is USD?
There is no single "USD futures" contract. The closest proxy is the U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) future on ICE, which we may add later. For now, USD positioning can be inferred as the inverse of the basket — when EUR, GBP, AUD specs are all lopsidedly long, that is implicitly a short-USD bet.