VIX Futures COT Report
CFTC Commitments of Traders · positions as of Tuesday 2026-09-01, released Sep 4, 2026 (the CFTC reports each Tuesday's close three days later) · next release Sep 11, 2026 (regular cycle; see the release schedule for holiday shifts)
VIX Futures positioning leans bullish - commercials buying (26w index 85).
How this read is built
- Commercials (hedgers) are net long and sit near the top of their 26-week range (COT index 85) - a bullish tilt in the traditional read.
A description of how traders are positioned versus their own history - the standard Commitments of Traders interpretation, computed identically for every market. It is not a price forecast, a trading signal, or advice. How traders use positioning · how the read is computed.
As of the COT report, large speculators are net short 84,185 VIX Futures futures contracts (down 6,021 week-over-week), commercials are net long 79,343, and open interest is 410,574 contracts. Leveraged funds was net short 26,258 contracts as of (up 3,885 week-over-week).
Cite this data
FuturesBench, "VIX Futures COT Report," data as of 2026-09-01. https://futuresbench.com/cot/vix/#net-position Source: CFTC Commitments of Traders (public domain). CSV: https://futuresbench.com/data/cot/vix.csv
Embed this chart
<iframe src="https://futuresbench.com/embed/cot/vix/" width="100%" height="560" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" title="VIX Futures COT Report chart - FuturesBench"></iframe>
Reporting gap: the CFTC published no data for this contract code between and (about 24 weeks) - typically an exchange migration or relisting, when the contract traded under a different code. The chart breaks across the gap rather than drawing a line through it, and the series resumes afterward. Why this happens.
Positioning - as of Tuesday 2026-09-01
| Trader category | Net position | Weekly change | % of open interest | COT index 26w | COT index 52w | COT index 3y |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Large speculators | -84,185 | -6,021 | -20.5% | 7.6 | 36.2 | 27.6 |
| Commercials | 79,343 | +763 | 19.3% | 85.2 | 68.5 | 77.8 |
| Small traders | 4,842 | +5,258 | 1.2% | 100.0 | 50.4 | 63.6 |
Net = long − short (spread positions cancel). COT index: 0 = most net-short of the lookback, 100 = most net-long. How it's computed.
This week in numbers
- Small traders net position rose by 5,258 contracts to 4,842 - the largest weekly change since 2026-07-28.
- Small traders flipped to net long (4,842 contracts) as of 2026-09-01.
- Open interest rose 8.4% week-over-week to 410,574 contracts.
Every sentence above is computed from the stored series - no commentary, no forecasts.
Traders in Financial Futures report - positions as of Tue 2026-09-01
| Trader category | Net position | Weekly change | % of open interest | COT index 26w | COT index 52w | COT index 3y |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dealer/intermediary | 48,862 | -2,928 | 11.9% | 69.0 | 35.1 | 64.7 |
| Asset manager | -31,025 | -8,137 | -7.6% | 19.9 | 26.6 | 32.7 |
| Leveraged funds | -26,258 | +3,885 | -6.4% | 51.4 | 65.3 | 68.6 |
| Other reportables | 3,579 | +1,922 | 0.9% | 100.0 | 100.0 | 47.6 |
| Small traders | 4,842 | +5,258 | 1.2% | 100.0 | 50.4 | 63.6 |
Full Traders in Financial Futures report history: CSV · switch the chart above to this report family for the full series.
Recent history
| Report date | Open interest | Large spec net | Δ | Commercial net | Δ | Small trader net |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-01 | 410,574 | -84,185 | -6,021 | 79,343 | +763 | 4,842 |
| 2026-08-25 | 378,681 | -78,164 | +11,282 | 78,580 | -10,742 | -416 |
| 2026-08-18 | 417,768 | -89,446 | -14,512 | 89,322 | +12,025 | 124 |
| 2026-08-11 | 382,010 | -74,934 | -13,825 | 77,297 | +11,707 | -2,363 |
| 2026-08-04 | 369,655 | -61,109 | +2,304 | 65,590 | -1,799 | -4,481 |
| 2026-07-28 | 343,094 | -63,413 | +13,448 | 67,389 | -8,009 | -3,976 |
| 2026-07-21 | 396,485 | -76,861 | -11,078 | 75,398 | +8,291 | 1,463 |
| 2026-07-14 | 389,088 | -65,783 | -1,659 | 67,107 | -418 | -1,324 |
| 2026-07-07 | 372,859 | -64,124 | -5,638 | 67,525 | +6,819 | -3,401 |
| 2026-06-30 | 354,497 | -58,486 | +8,288 | 60,706 | -8,137 | -2,220 |
| 2026-06-23 | 353,236 | -66,774 | -35 | 68,843 | +2,586 | -2,069 |
| 2026-06-16 | 408,302 | -66,739 | +7,681 | 66,257 | -6,202 | 482 |
| 2026-06-09 | 410,407 | -74,420 | -4,468 | 72,459 | -214 | 1,961 |
| 2026-06-02 | 410,614 | -69,952 | -15,468 | 72,673 | +15,443 | -2,721 |
| 2026-05-26 | 384,562 | -54,484 | +1,285 | 57,230 | +3,979 | -2,746 |
| 2026-05-19 | 440,161 | -55,769 | -6,808 | 53,251 | +4,197 | 2,518 |
| 2026-05-12 | 403,191 | -48,961 | -24,278 | 49,054 | +22,570 | -93 |
| 2026-05-05 | 387,090 | -24,683 | +3,159 | 26,484 | -1,890 | -1,801 |
| 2026-04-28 | 362,343 | -27,842 | -580 | 28,374 | +127 | -532 |
| 2026-04-21 | 338,391 | -27,262 | -2,958 | 28,247 | +5,225 | -985 |
| 2026-04-14 | 365,168 | -24,304 | -3,916 | 23,022 | +456 | 1,282 |
| 2026-04-07 | 346,605 | -20,388 | +10,770 | 22,566 | -11,405 | -2,178 |
| 2026-03-31 | 348,816 | -31,158 | -6,183 | 33,971 | +12,013 | -2,813 |
| 2026-03-24 | 342,684 | -24,975 | +21,426 | 21,958 | -20,704 | 3,017 |
| 2026-03-17 | 390,595 | -46,401 | -3,566 | 42,662 | +369 | 3,739 |
| 2026-03-10 | 388,129 | -42,835 | +12,908 | 42,293 | -17,585 | 542 |
Full history, no login: CSV (2004-07-27 → 2026-09-01) · JSON
Contract facts
FAQ
- Are large speculators long or short VIX Futures futures?
- As of the 2026-09-01 COT report, large speculators (non-commercial traders) are net short 84,185 contracts in VIX Futures futures.
- How current is this VIX Futures COT data?
- The latest report is dated 2026-09-01 (positions as of that Tuesday's close), published by the CFTC on 2026-09-04. This page updates within minutes of each weekly release.
- Where can I download VIX Futures COT history?
- The full weekly series (2004-07-27 to 2026-09-01) is free at /data/cot/vix.csv - no login, no cap.
Learn: how to read this report · commercials vs non-commercials · glossary
Related markets
Source: CFTC Commitments of Traders, legacy futures-only report, contract code 1170E1. Dataset coverage 2004-07-27 → 2026-09-01. Methodology.