Who publishes the COT report?
The U.S. CFTC publishes the report.
COT Guide / What is the COT report?
What is the COT report?
The Commitments of Traders report is a weekly CFTC publication that shows how futures market open interest is held across trader categories. It helps readers see positioning structure: who is concentrated, where exposure changed, and whether a market looks unusually crowded. The report is delayed, so it should be read as positioning context, not real-time instruction.
What the report shows
The report breaks futures positioning into trader categories and shows long, short, spreading, and net positioning fields. For a professional reader, the useful question is not only where positioning sits now, but whether the current state is unusual for that market.
A concrete market example
In a market like WTI crude, the COT report can show whether managed-money exposure expanded, contracted, or shifted relative to other trader groups. That does not decide the market's next move. It does show whether the positioning structure deserves review.
Why the delay matters
The COT report is not real-time data. Every public read should carry the source date and acknowledge that the market may have moved since the reporting snapshot.
Source-date caveatCOT data is delayed. This read reflects the stated COT source date, not a real-time market state.
What tiltline adds
Raw COT data leaves the reader to sort every market manually. tiltline turns that work into a ranked review queue, plus definitions, caveats, and later-stage methodology for buyers who want to inspect the process.
COT fields to know
These are the fields most pages should name before offering an interpretation.
| Field | Use |
|---|---|
| Trader category | Defines whose positioning is being read. |
| Long, short, spreading | Reported exposure fields. |
| Open interest | Scale for the positioning read. |
| Net positioning | Long exposure minus short exposure for a stated category. |
FAQ
What does COT stand for?
Commitments of Traders.
Is the COT report real-time?
No. It is a delayed weekly publication.
Why use it if it is delayed?
It can still show positioning structure, crowding, and changes worth reviewing.