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 -155,980 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday October 15th. This was a weekly change of -17,300 net contracts from the previous week which had a total of -138,680 net contracts.
The week’s net position was the result of the gross bullish position (longs) going up by 4,316 contracts (to a weekly total of 80,525 contracts) while the gross bearish position (shorts) rose by a greater amount of 21,616 contracts for the week (to a total of 236,505 contracts).
VIX speculators have now raised their bearish bets for the sixth time out of the past seven weeks as traders continue to bet on lower volatility. The past seven weeks have seen a total of -98,827 contracts added to the existing bearish position. This week’s standing is now the most bearish level for the VIX speculators since April 30th when bets hit a record bearish level of -180,359 contracts.
VIX Commercial Positions:
The commercial traders position, hedgers or traders engaged in buying and selling for business purposes, totaled a net position of 164,490 contracts on the week. This was a weekly uptick of 19,251 contracts from the total net of 145,239 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 $16.87 which was a shortfall of $-3.10 from the previous close of $19.97, according to unofficial market data.