What is the Russell 2000 COT report?

It is the weekly CFTC Commitments of Traders breakdown for E-mini Russell 2000 (CME): 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 Russell 2000 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 Russell 2000 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 Russell 2000?

A bearish divergence is Russell 2000 Index 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.

E-mini Russell 2000 (CME)

Russell 2000 positioning

Price series: Russell 2000 Index · positions as of Tuesday Sep 15, 2026, published Friday Sep 18, 2026

Last weekly close · Russell 2000 Index

2,875

Asset managers net position (contracts)

24,273

Bullish divergenceJul 21, 2026 → Sep 15, 2026 · 8-week window

Price is falling while this group accumulates — where bottoms tend to form.

price -1.9% · asset managers net position +25,163 (contracts, over 8 weekly reports)

Price vs positioning (contracts)

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

Price — Russell 2000 Index

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)19 · stretched short

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

Commercial (hedgers)83 · stretched long

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

Asset managers23 · neutral

Leaning short, but not yet at an extreme.

Leveraged funds15 · stretched short

Near the most bearish 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.

Asset managers — 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

Disagreement sits in its normal historical range — nothing stretched.

Current gap (contracts)

-121,476 contracts

Left axis: gap in contracts (positive = Leveraged funds is more net long than Asset managers). Right axis: disagreement index, 0–100. Gap tracks Leveraged funds − Asset managers.

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)	78,550	150,900	-72,350	+10,485	19
Commercial (hedgers)	362,572	293,889	68,683	-8,447	83
Asset managers	153,371	129,098	24,273	+709	23
Leveraged funds	77,165	174,368	-97,203	+12,944	15

Signal log — Asset managers

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 15, 2026price -3.0% · net position +16,719 contracts
Convergence — healthy uptrendMay 5, 2026 → Aug 4, 2026price +6.1% · net position +21,052 contracts
Bearish divergenceFeb 17, 2026 → Jun 23, 2026price +13.0% · net position -50,748 contracts
Convergence — healthy downtrendFeb 3, 2026 → Mar 31, 2026price -5.3% · net position -29,185 contracts
Bullish divergenceJan 6, 2026 → Mar 17, 2026price -7.1% · net position +6,850 contracts
Convergence — healthy uptrendOct 7, 2025 → Feb 24, 2026price +9.9% · net position +58,438 contracts
Convergence — healthy downtrendSep 16, 2025 → Nov 10, 2025price -2.5% · net position -6,628 contracts
Bearish divergenceAug 12, 2025 → Oct 28, 2025price +8.4% · net position -5,743 contracts
Convergence — healthy uptrendJul 22, 2025 → Sep 23, 2025price +7.7% · net position +14,086 contracts
Bearish divergenceMay 20, 2025 → Sep 2, 2025price +17.2% · net position -12,363 contracts
Convergence — healthy uptrendApr 8, 2025 → Jul 1, 2025price +20.9% · net position +7,714 contracts
Bearish divergenceMar 18, 2025 → May 27, 2025price +0.5% · net position -8,641 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.