VIX Futures Non-Commercial Speculator Positions:
Large volatility speculators lowered their bullish net positions in the VIX futures markets off of a record high level 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 77,951 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday April 17th. This was a weekly decrease of -14,962 contracts from the previous week which had a total of 92,913 net contracts.
The drop this week follows gains in the last four weeks that pushed the bullish position to a record high level for the VIX speculators. The speculative position has now been on the bullish side for eleven straight weeks after going from bearish to bullish on February 6th.
VIX Commercial Positions:
The commercial traders position, hedgers or traders engaged in buying and selling for business purposes, totaled a net position of -72,659 contracts on the week. This was a weekly boost of 18,904 contracts from the total net of -91,563 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 $15.25 which was a drop of $-5.22 from the previous close of $20.47, according to unofficial market data.