VIX Non-Commercial Speculator Positions:
Large volatility speculators boosted their bearish net positions in the VIX Futures markets this week, according to the latest Commitment of Traders (COT) data released by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Friday.
The non-commercial futures contracts of VIX futures, traded by large speculators and hedge funds, totaled a net position of -52,829 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday July 10th. This was a weekly lowering of -19,610 contracts from the previous week which had a total of -33,219 net contracts.
Speculators had seen their bearish bets fall in the previous two weeks before this week’s increase. The overall bearish position is the highest level of the past three weeks and back above the -50,000 contract level for the first time since June 19th.
VIX Commercial Positions:
The commercial traders position, hedgers or traders engaged in buying and selling for business purposes, totaled a net position of 64,827 contracts on the week. This was a weekly advance of 24,175 contracts from the total net of 40,652 contracts reported the previous week.
VIX:
Over the same weekly reporting time-frame, from Tuesday to Tuesday, the VIX, which tracks the volatility of the S&P 500, closed at approximately $12.64 which was a decrease of $-3.5 from the previous close of $16.14, according to unofficial market data.