What is the VIX COT report?

It is the weekly CFTC Commitments of Traders breakdown for VIX futures (CFE): 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 VIX 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 VIX 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 VIX?

A bearish divergence is CBOE Volatility 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.

VIX futures (CFE)

VIX positioning

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

Last weekly close · CBOE Volatility Index

15.44

Asset managers net position (contracts)

-52,658

VIX is a volatility index, so a long position is a bet on falling equities. Read the signal in the opposite direction to the stock indices.

Convergence — healthy downtrendJul 21, 2026 → Sep 15, 2026 · 8-week windowconfirmed by 3 categories

Price and positioning are falling together: the downtrend is well supported.

price -16.9% · asset managers net position -11,119 (contracts, over 8 weekly reports)

Price vs positioning (contracts)

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

Price — CBOE Volatility 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)26 · neutral

Leaning short, but not yet at an extreme.

Commercial (hedgers)80 · stretched long

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

Asset managers11 · stretched short

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

Leveraged funds77 · neutral

Leaning long, but not yet at an extreme.

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

The two groups are pulling apart, above their usual range.

Current gap (contracts)

+36,154 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)	93,750	180,335	-86,585	+8,244	26
Commercial (hedgers)	234,782	152,791	81,991	-8,209	80
Asset managers	50,344	103,002	-52,658	-15,245	11
Leveraged funds	90,002	106,506	-16,504	+6,766	77

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.

Convergence — healthy downtrendJul 21, 2026 → Sep 15, 2026price -16.9% · net position -11,119 contracts
Bullish divergenceJun 16, 2026 → Sep 8, 2026price -3.4% · net position -7,106 contracts
Convergence — healthy downtrendJun 2, 2026 → Aug 4, 2026price -30.7% · net position -21,184 contracts
Bearish divergenceMay 19, 2026 → Jul 21, 2026price +11.3% · net position -39,652 contracts
Convergence — healthy downtrendMay 5, 2026 → Jul 7, 2026price -12.6% · net position -28,789 contracts
Bearish divergenceApr 28, 2026 → Jun 23, 2026price +8.4% · net position -18,840 contracts
Convergence — healthy downtrendApr 21, 2026 → Jun 16, 2026price -12.3% · net position -29,109 contracts
Bearish divergenceApr 7, 2026 → Jun 2, 2026price +11.9% · net position -28,086 contracts
Convergence — healthy downtrendMar 10, 2026 → May 26, 2026price -43.7% · net position -9,794 contracts
Bullish divergenceFeb 10, 2026 → Apr 28, 2026price -17.5% · net position +23,844 contracts
Convergence — healthy uptrendDec 30, 2025 → Mar 31, 2026price +64.5% · net position +47,977 contracts
Bearish divergenceDec 2, 2025 → Feb 10, 2026price +33.7% · net position -34,496 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.