COT Screener · Guides
COT report guides
Learn how to read the CFTC’s Commitments of Traders reports, from the first table columns to net positions, open interest and the COT Index.
COT data is free, but the raw tables take practice to read. These guides turn the report labels, position columns and weekly changes into a clear learning path.
Start with the basics, then move through report types, positioning measures and practical interpretation. The 10 guides below follow that order.
What is the COT report?
A clear introduction to what the weekly report covers, where the data comes from and how traders use it.
Updated July 2026 · 5 min read
Legacy, Supplemental, Disaggregated or TFF?
How the four CFTC report families differ in market coverage, trader categories and historical depth.
Updated July 2026 · 5 min read
How to read the COT report
A practical walkthrough of the dates, position columns, weekly changes, percentages and trader counts in a COT table.
Updated July 2026 · 9 min read
COT net positions explained
How to calculate long minus short and compare the result with open interest, weekly changes and past readings.
Updated July 2026 · 7 min read
Open interest in the COT report
How open interest changes, how it differs from volume and why every open contract has one long and one short side.
Updated July 2026 · 7 min read
The COT Index explained
How the COT Index scales a trader group’s net position from 0 to 100 across a chosen lookback period.
Updated July 2026 · 5 min read
Commercial vs. non-commercial traders
What the Legacy classifications mean and why commercial and non-commercial net positions often offset each other.
Updated July 2026 · 4 min read
COT extremes near 0 and 100
How to interpret readings near either end of the range and compare them with weekly position changes and price.
Updated July 2026 · 4 min read
When is the COT report released?
The usual Friday release time, Tuesday snapshot date, reporting gap and holiday schedule.
Updated July 2026 · 3 min read
COT report glossary
Clear definitions for open interest, reportable positions, trader categories, spreading, concentration, the COT Index, and more.
Updated July 2026 · 6 min read
See these concepts in real market data.
The positioning board turns the latest CFTC release into comparable charts, tables and COT Index readings for major futures markets.
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