What the COT report is
The Commitments of Traders (COT) report is published every week by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). It shows the positions held by different groups of traders in regulated US futures markets, including COMEX gold (contract code 088691).
You won’t see individual names. You see groups, and how many contracts each group is long and short.
Why it matters for XAUUSD traders: spot gold and gold futures move almost together, and futures positioning reflects what large institutions are doing.
When it comes out
- Data date: Tuesday of each week.
- Release: usually Friday, 3:30 pm US Eastern time.
- Holidays: a US public holiday can delay it.
So when you read the report on Friday, it describes positions three days earlier. That lag is the first thing to remember.
The three groups (legacy report)
| Group | Who they are | Typical position in gold |
|---|---|---|
| Non-commercials (large speculators) | Hedge funds, commodity trading advisers, other big traders trading for profit | Usually net long |
| Commercials (hedgers) | Miners, refiners, bullion banks and dealers hedging real gold business | Usually net short |
| Non-reportables | Smaller traders below the reporting threshold | Small, mixed |
Commercials being net short isn’t bearish by itself: a miner selling future production to lock in a price is simply managing business risk.
The disaggregated report splits traders further; its managed money group is the closest match to hedge funds.
How to read the numbers
Each group has a long total and a short total. Three calculations matter most:
- Net position = longs − shorts.
- Weekly change = this week’s net − last week’s net.
- Open interest = the total number of contracts outstanding.
A real example from our tracker (report dated 13 October 2026):
| Long | Short | Net | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Large speculators | 245,300 | 37,421 | +207,879 |
| Commercials | 54,419 | 296,950 | −242,531 |
| Open interest | 396,345 |
Read in plain English: large speculators held about 208,000 contracts more long than short, so funds were clearly positioned for higher gold. Commercial hedgers held the other side.
See the latest numbers and a chart against the gold price on our free gold COT report tracker.
What traders look for
1. Extremes
The most useful question is: how crowded is positioning compared with the past?
Our tracker shows a 3-year percentile. A reading near 90–100% means speculators are more net long than almost any time in three years. A reading near 0–10% means they are unusually light.
Crowded markets can move sharply when positions unwind: if many funds are already long, fewer buyers remain, and bad news can trigger fast selling.
2. Trend confirmation or divergence
- Price rising and net longs rising: fresh buying supports the move.
- Price rising while net longs fall: the rally may be driven by short covering, which can be less durable.
- Price falling while net longs rise: funds are buying the dip. Watch whether price confirms.
3. Changes around big events
Look at how positioning shifted around a Fed meeting, CPI or jobs report. Big swings show what big money thought the event meant. See how to trade gold on Fed day.
The COT report is not a timing signal. Positioning can stay extreme for months while price keeps trending. Use it to adjust how cautious you are, never as a reason to enter on its own.
Limitations to keep in mind
- It’s old news: three days old on release, a week old by the next report.
- Futures only: it doesn’t include spot or CFD positions at brokers, or physical buyers such as central banks.
- Groups are broad: “non-commercial” mixes very different strategies.
- No price targets: it tells you who’s positioned, not where gold will go.
That’s why the COT report works best combined with the other big drivers: real yields and the dollar, inflation data and what moves gold prices more broadly.
A simple weekly routine
- On Friday evening, open the COT tracker.
- Note the speculator net position, the weekly change and the percentile.
- Ask: is positioning extreme? Does it agree with the price trend?
- Write one line in your trading journal, for example “Speculators very crowded long; reduce size into the Fed.”
- Build your actual trades from structure and risk rules, as in the gold swing trading strategy.
Ten minutes a week is enough to know what big money is doing in gold, and to avoid being the last one into a crowded trade.
Educational content only, not financial advice. Data source: CFTC Commitments of Traders (legacy, futures only), COMEX gold. Trading gold with leverage carries a high risk of loss.
Frequently asked questions
What is the COT report for gold?
The Commitments of Traders (COT) report is a weekly report from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). For gold, it shows how large speculators, commercial hedgers and small traders are positioned in COMEX gold futures.
When is the COT report released?
Usually every Friday at 3:30 pm US Eastern time, with data as of the previous Tuesday. US public holidays can delay it by a day or more.
What does net long mean?
Net long is the number of long contracts minus the number of short contracts for a group. If speculators hold 245,000 longs and 37,000 shorts, they are about 208,000 contracts net long.
Who are commercials and non-commercials?
Commercials are businesses that hedge real gold exposure, such as miners, refiners and bullion dealers; they are usually net short. Non-commercials are large speculators such as hedge funds and trading advisers, who trade for profit and are usually net long gold.
Is the COT report a buy or sell signal?
No. It is slow, weekly context that is already three days old when published. Traders use it to judge how crowded positioning is and how cautious to be, alongside price action, news and risk management.
What is the difference between the legacy and disaggregated COT reports?
The legacy report splits traders into commercials, non-commercials and non-reportables. The disaggregated report splits them further into producers and merchants, swap dealers, managed money and other reportables. Managed money is the closest match to hedge-fund positioning.
Where can I see gold COT data for free?
The CFTC publishes the raw data free on its website. Our free gold COT tracker charts speculator positioning against the gold price and updates automatically every week.
Sources and further reading
- CME Group — Gold futures overview — Contract specifications and trading hours for COMEX gold
- CFTC — Commitments of Traders — Weekly futures positioning, including gold
- Investor.gov — Stop order — How stop orders work, and their limits in fast markets
External sites are independent of XAUUSD Global. Check dates and data yourself.