Technical & Chart AnalysisCOT report
Commitment of Traders (COT)
A weekly CFTC report breaking down open interest in US futures markets by trader category, widely used as a positioning gauge.
What Commitment of Traders (COT) means
The Commitments of Traders report is published by the CFTC each Friday afternoon US time and reflects positions held at the close of the preceding Tuesday. It breaks open interest in reportable US futures markets into categories. The legacy format splits participants into commercial, non-commercial and non-reportable. The disaggregated and financial formats are more granular, separating dealers, asset managers, leveraged funds and other reportables. Currency futures traded in Chicago serve as the standard proxy for positioning in the far larger over-the-counter spot market.
Analysts typically track the net position of leveraged funds or non-commercials and watch for extremes relative to a multi-year range, on the reasoning that crowded positioning leaves a market vulnerable to a sharp unwind if the news flow turns. It is a context tool, not a timing tool. The limitations are important: the data is three days stale on release, futures represent only a fraction of total FX activity, category labels do not always match actual intent, and positioning extremes can persist for months while a trend continues.
Worked example
If leveraged funds hold a net short of 90,000 euro futures contracts, a three-year extreme, a trader might treat further EUR/USD weakness below 1.0800 as vulnerable to a squeeze rather than as a fresh selling opportunity.
Related terms
- CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission)The US federal regulator of derivatives markets, including retail off-exchange forex.
- Currency FuturesStandardised, exchange-traded contracts to exchange currency at a set price on a fixed future settlement date.
- Open InterestThe total number of derivative contracts still outstanding and not yet closed or settled at the end of a session.
- Sentiment AnalysisMeasuring how market participants are positioned and how bullish or bearish they are, often used as a contrarian filter.
- Fundamental AnalysisValuing a currency by examining the economic data, interest rates and central bank policy that drive demand for it.
Frequently asked questions
What does Commitment of Traders (COT) mean in forex trading?
A weekly CFTC report breaking down open interest in US futures markets by trader category, widely used as a positioning gauge.
How does Commitment of Traders (COT) work in practice?
Analysts typically track the net position of leveraged funds or non-commercials and watch for extremes relative to a multi-year range, on the reasoning that crowded positioning leaves a market vulnerable to a sharp unwind if the news flow turns. It is a context tool, not a timing tool. The limitations are important: the data is three days stale on release, futures represent only a fraction of total FX activity, category labels do not always match actual intent, and positioning extremes can persist for months while a trend continues.
What is an example of Commitment of Traders (COT)?
If leveraged funds hold a net short of 90,000 euro futures contracts, a three-year extreme, a trader might treat further EUR/USD weakness below 1.0800 as vulnerable to a squeeze rather than as a fresh selling opportunity.
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