Indices
S&P 500 COT positioning
Speculators are net long s&p 500, at the 42nd percentile of the last three years, which is within its normal range rather than at an extreme.
Reading as of 22 September 2026. The CFTC publishes weekly with a three day lag, so this describes the previous Tuesday. The terminal carries the full three year history and the week on week change.
Reading it
What this book is, and how it behaves.
Equity index positioning includes a great deal of hedging against cash holdings, so a large net short is often protection rather than a bearish bet. This is the book most easily misread.
Positioning at an extreme is a description of where the crowd sits, not a forecast. A crowded book can stay crowded for months and get more crowded on the way. What it does tell you is who is already in the trade, which is what decides how violently a market reacts when the news goes the other way.
S&P 500 positioning, answered.
Are speculators net long or net short s&p 500?
Speculators are net long s&p 500, at the 42nd percentile of the last three years, which is within its normal range rather than at an extreme. The net position is +934,455 contracts as of 22 September 2026.
What does one S&P 500 contract represent?
One contract is the E-mini, $50 times the index. Equity index positioning includes a great deal of hedging against cash holdings, so a large net short is often protection rather than a bearish bet. This is the book most easily misread.
What is the COT report?
The Commitment of Traders report is published weekly by the CFTC. It breaks open interest in US futures markets down by category of trader. The figure here is the non-commercial, or speculative, net position: long contracts minus short contracts. It is reported with a three day lag, so the newest reading describes the previous Tuesday.
Does extreme positioning mean the price will reverse?
No. Positioning describes where the crowd sits, not what happens next. Crowded books can stay crowded for months and get more crowded on the way. It is a measure of who is already in a trade, which matters for how a market reacts to news, and it is not a timing signal.
Elsewhere on the board