VIX Non-Commercial Speculator Positions:
Large volatility speculators added to 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 -28,358 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday May 5th. This was a weekly change of -9,387 net contracts from the previous week which had a total of -18,971 net contracts.
The week’s net position was the result of the gross bullish position (longs) declining by -75 contracts (to a weekly total of 50,851 contracts) while the gross bearish position (shorts) rose by 9,312 contracts for the week (to a total of 79,209 contracts).
VIX speculators raised their bearish bets for the first time in the past three weeks. The current speculator level has now continued to remain in a bearish position dating back to January of 2019 (a span of 69 weeks), although the bearish position has now fallen by over 100,000 contracts in the past twelve weeks.
VIX Commercial Positions:
The commercial traders' position, hedgers or traders engaged in buying and selling for business purposes, totaled a net position of 33,955 contracts on the week. This was a weekly rise of 8,805 contracts from the total net of 25,150 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 $34.02 which was a decline of $-0.15 from the previous close of $34.17, according to unofficial market data.