Guide · Positioning
How to read the COT report (Commitments of Traders) for forex and gold
Short answer: the Commitments of Traders (COT) report is a weekly breakdown, published by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), of who holds positions in US futures markets, including currency and gold futures. It comes out on Friday at 15:30 New York time (normally 20:30 UK time) and shows positions as of the previous Tuesday. It tells you how positioned large traders already are. It doesn't tell you what price will do next.
When the COT report is released
- Usually Friday, 15:30 New York time: 20:30 UK time for most of the year, and 19:30 UK time in the few weeks each March and late October when UK and US clocks change on different dates.
- Positions as of Tuesday: the figures are positions at the close of business the previous Tuesday, so they're three days old on release and ten days old by the time the next report arrives.
- Holiday weeks move: a US federal holiday pushes the release back, usually to the Monday. The CFTC lists Monday 16 November, Monday 30 November and Monday 28 December 2026 as holiday-delayed releases. Check the CFTC release schedule before relying on a date.
Which COT report to read
The CFTC publishes the same positions in several formats. For forex and gold, these are the ones to know:
| Market | Report to read | Trader groups |
|---|---|---|
| Currencies (euro, pound, yen, franc, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand dollar futures) | Traders in Financial Futures (TFF) | Dealer/Intermediary, Asset Manager/Institutional, Leveraged Funds, Other Reportables |
| Gold, silver, oil and other physical commodities | Disaggregated | Producer/Merchant/Processor/User, Swap Dealers, Managed Money, Other Reportables |
| Both | Legacy (the oldest format, back to 1986) | Commercial and non-commercial |
In practice, people watching speculative positioning look at Leveraged Funds (hedge funds and similar) and Asset Managers in currencies, and at Managed Money in gold and oil. The older Legacy report lumps these into "non-commercial", which is blunter but has the longest history.
Reading one row: a worked example
Suppose a currency future shows this for Leveraged Funds (invented numbers):
| Long | Short | Net | |
|---|---|---|---|
| This week | 40,000 | 70,000 | −30,000 |
| Last week | 42,000 | 58,000 | −16,000 |
| Change | −2,000 | +12,000 | −14,000 |
- Net position is longs minus shorts: these funds are net short 30,000 contracts.
- The change shows the net short nearly doubled in a week, mostly from new shorts rather than closed longs.
- Size only means something in context. Compare the net position with its own history and with total open interest (all contracts still open). A net short of 30,000 can be extreme in one market and ordinary in another.
The forex catch: futures are quoted against the dollar
Currency futures in the COT report are priced as US dollars per unit of the other currency. A net long in euro futures leans the same way as EUR/USD. But a net long in yen, Swiss franc or Canadian dollar futures leans against USD/JPY, USD/CHF and USD/CAD, because those pairs are quoted the other way round.
- For crosses such as EUR/JPY, compare the two currencies' positioning; there's no single cross row.
- The report covers futures, not the much larger spot market. It's a sample of positioning, not the whole market.
Reading it for gold
Gold appears in the Disaggregated report. Managed Money is the group most often read as speculative positioning; Producer/Merchant and Swap Dealers are mostly firms that produce, use or deal in the metal. Gold futures are priced in US dollars, so a Managed Money net long leans the same way as XAU/USD.
What the COT report can and can't tell you
- It can show crowding: when one group's net position is near the edge of its own history, a lot of the market is already leaning one way, and fewer traders are left to add to it.
- It can show change: a large weekly swing shows positioning moving, which matters more than a static level.
- It can't time anything: the data is at least three days old, and crowded positions can stay crowded for months.
- It can't tell you why: the CFTC classifies traders by their self-reported main business, not by the reason for each position. Large reportable traders typically make up 70–90% of open interest; the rest is "nonreportable", and nothing is known about who holds it.
How MacroMatrixFX and MacroVolt use COT positioning
Both apps treat positioning as one input among several, alongside rates, growth, inflation and risk. The methodology explains how each input is weighted and how it ages.
- MacroMatrixFX (10 major FX pairs) shows weekly COT positioning across the covered currencies, with a positioning heatmap showing where the market looks crowded before a catalyst arrives. About MacroMatrixFX · Compare plans
- MacroVolt (gold, oil, indices and other markets) shows COT positioning with history on its Starter plan and above, so crowding can be judged against where it has been. About MacroVolt · Compare plans
Key takeaways
- Released Friday 15:30 New York time (usually 20:30 UK), showing Tuesday's positions.
- Currencies: read the TFF report. Gold and oil: read the Disaggregated report.
- Yen, franc and Canadian dollar futures run opposite to USD/JPY, USD/CHF and USD/CAD.
- Positioning shows how crowded a market is, not when it will turn.
Further reading
- CFTC: Commitments of Traders (release time, report formats and trader groups)
- CFTC: COT explanatory notes (open interest, reportable positions, classification)
- CFTC: COT release schedule (holiday-delayed dates)
Sources are cited so you can verify them. They are independent of Macro Research Technologies and have not reviewed or approved this content. Educational content only, not financial advice.