What is the Natural Gas COT report?

It is the weekly CFTC Commitments of Traders breakdown for Natural gas (NYMEX): how many long and short futures contracts each group of large traders held as of the prior Tuesday, published the following Friday.

How do you read Natural Gas net positioning?

Net position is long contracts minus short contracts for one trader group. A positive net means the group leans bullish; the weekly change matters more than the raw level.

What does the Natural Gas COT index mean?

The COT index rescales a group's net position 0-100 against its own high and low over the chosen lookback. Above 80 is close to the most bullish that group has been; below 20 is close to the most bearish.

What is a bearish divergence in Natural Gas?

A bearish divergence is Henry Hub futures (front month) making new highs while the tracked trader group reduces its net long position — the rally is losing the sponsorship of the money that usually drives it.

Natural gas (NYMEX)

Natural Gas positioning

Price series: Henry Hub futures (front month) · positions as of Tuesday Sep 15, 2026, published Friday Sep 18, 2026

Last weekly close · Henry Hub futures (front month)

2.901

Managed money net position (contracts)

-100,205

No signalJul 21, 2026 → Sep 15, 2026 · 8-week window

Neither price nor positioning has moved enough this window to say anything.

Price vs positioning (contracts)

Price on top, and what the big traders were holding underneath it.

Price — Henry Hub futures (front month)

Net position (contracts) — Net position = long contracts minus short contracts. Above the zero line = net long.

Signal classification tracks bullish divergencebearish divergenceconvergence (healthy trend)

COT Index

0–100 · vs last 3 years

How extreme today's positioning is compared with this group's own history.

Each group's current net position, rescaled 0–100 against its own high and low over the selected lookback. 0 = most bearish it has been in that window, 100 = most bullish. Unitless by design, so markets of very different sizes can be compared.

Non-commercial (large specs)0 · stretched short

Near the most bearish this group has been in the window.

Commercial (hedgers)100 · stretched long

Near the most bullish this group has been in the window.

Managed money22 · neutral

Leaning short, but not yet at an extreme.

Producers / merchants71 · neutral

Leaning long, but not yet at an extreme.

Swap dealers100 · stretched long

Near the most bullish this group has been in the window.

0 · most bearish50 · mid-range100 · most bullish

COT Index = ((Current − Min) / (Max − Min)) × 100, over the last 3 years

Method credit: the 0–100 normalization goes back to Larry Williams' COT work in the 1980s and was developed and popularized by Stephen Briese, author of The Commitments of Traders Bible.

Managed money — COT index history (0–100, rolling 3 years window)

Disagreement Index

contracts · index 0–100

How far apart two trader groups are right now.

Gap = group A's net position minus group B's, measured in contracts. The Disagreement Index rescales that difference 0–100 against its own last 3 years: 0 = the two groups as close together as they get, 100 = as far apart as they get.

Disagreement Index · vs last 3 years

The two groups are as closely aligned as they have ever been.

Current gap (contracts)

-82,998 contracts

Left axis: gap in contracts (positive = Managed money is more net long than Producers / merchants). Right axis: disagreement index, 0–100. Gap tracks Managed money − Producers / merchants.

Latest week by category

What each trader group was holding in the most recent report.

Positions as of Tuesday Sep 15, 2026, published Friday Sep 18, 2026, compared with the prior weekly report. Positive net = net long; negative net = net short. COT index is measured over the last 3 years.

Category	Long (contracts)	Short (contracts)	Net (contracts)	Weekly change (contracts)	COT index (0–100, 3y)
Non-commercial (large specs)	307,535	529,122	-221,587	-1,820	0
Commercial (hedgers)	595,192	388,440	206,752	+5,626	100
Managed money	264,362	364,567	-100,205	-3,463	22
Producers / merchants	234,268	251,475	-17,207	-1,942	71
Swap dealers	242,165	18,206	223,959	+7,568	100

Signal log — Managed money

Every past signal in this market, and what price did afterwards.

Every rolling 8-week window classified as a bullish or bearish divergence, or as convergence where price and positioning agree. Price change is in percent; net change is in contracts.

Each row covers one stretch of weekly reports: the % is the price change over that stretch, the net figure is the change in the group's net position, in contracts.

Bullish divergenceJul 14, 2026 → Sep 8, 2026price -2.7% · net position +8,967 contracts
Convergence — healthy downtrendJun 16, 2026 → Aug 18, 2026price -13.3% · net position -15,171 contracts
Bullish divergenceMay 26, 2026 → Jul 28, 2026price -16.5% · net position +28,600 contracts
Convergence — healthy uptrendApr 21, 2026 → Jun 30, 2026price +28.6% · net position +35,766 contracts
Bearish divergenceMar 31, 2026 → Jun 9, 2026price +11.4% · net position -55,001 contracts
Convergence — healthy downtrendJan 27, 2026 → May 19, 2026price -33.2% · net position -74,369 contracts
Bullish divergenceDec 2, 2025 → Mar 17, 2026price -41.5% · net position -4,655 contracts
Bearish divergenceNov 25, 2025 → Jan 20, 2026price +8.8% · net position -11,755 contracts
Convergence — healthy downtrendNov 4, 2025 → Jan 13, 2026price -28.1% · net position -61,148 contracts
Bearish divergenceOct 21, 2025 → Dec 23, 2025price +32.1% · net position -60,490 contracts
Convergence — healthy uptrendOct 14, 2025 → Dec 9, 2025price +36.7% · net position +44,248 contracts
Bearish divergenceAug 19, 2025 → Nov 25, 2025price +79.8% · net position -28,659 contracts

Source: CFTC Commitments of Traders — positions as of Tuesday, published the following Friday. All position figures are futures contracts unless the % of open interest view is selected. Positioning is a sentiment tool, not a timing signal. Not investment advice.