VIX Non-Commercial Speculator Positions:
Large volatility speculators reduced 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 -138,680 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday October 8th. This was a weekly change of 16,175 net contracts from the previous week which had a total of -154,855 net contracts.
The week’s net position was the result of the gross bullish position (longs) falling by -8,604 contracts (to a weekly total of 76,209 contracts) while the gross bearish position (shorts) dropped by larger amount of -24,779 contracts for the week (to a total of 214,889 contracts).
VIX speculators decreased their bearish bets this week for the first time in the past six weeks. Speculators had been sharply boosting their bearish bets over the previous five weeks and added a total of -97,702 contracts to the overall position in just that time-frame.
The speculators remain strongly bearish with the net position above the -125,000 contract level for a fourth straight week.
VIX Commercial Positions:
The commercial traders position, hedgers or traders engaged in buying and selling for business purposes, totaled a net position of 145,239 contracts on the week. This was a weekly decline of -20,818 contracts from the total net of 166,057 contracts reported the previous week.
VIX Futures:
Over the same weekly reporting time-frame, from Tuesday to Tuesday, the VIX Futures (Front Month) closed at approximately $19.97 which was an uptick of $1.40 from the previous close of $18.57, according to unofficial market data.