VIX Non-Commercial Speculator Positions:
Large volatility speculators lowered their 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 53,612 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday March 13th. This was a weekly fall of -23,306 contracts from the previous week which had a total of 76,918 net contracts.
The speculative VIX positions have now declined for four out of the past five weeks after a spike higher in early February when stock market volatility jumped. The overall position has now been in bullish territory for six straight weeks.
VIX Commercial Positions:
The commercial traders position, hedgers or traders engaged in buying and selling for business purposes, totaled a net position of -56,677 contracts on the week. This was a weekly increase of 17,701 contracts from the total net of -74,378 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 $16.35 which was a decline of $-2.01 from the previous close of $18.36, according to unofficial market data.