The COT Report
The COT Report is a weekly publication (published Friday) where the CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission, www.cftc.gov) reports positions in futures held by the following categories of investors:
1. Commercial Traders (CT)
These traders use futures as a tool to hedge the risk of the underlying commodity and which exceed a certain amount of positions established by the CFTC itself. These are normally involved in the production or processing of the underlying commodity.
2. Non Commercial Traders (NCT)
They are those traders who do not use futures as a means of hedging but rather as a speculative instrument and, at the same time, exceed the amount of positions envisaged by the CFTC. They are normally big traders such as funds and investment houses.
3. Small Traders (ST)
They are those whose positions are not exceeding the expected levels and, consequently, are classified as small investors.
Example of COT report concerning the future on the Japanese yen as proposed by the CFTC: