Currency Speculators added to US Dollar bullish bets for 1st time in 4 weeks

By CountingPips.com

cot-values


Large Speculator bullish bets increased to $18.92 billion last week

The latest data for the weekly Commitments of Traders (COT) report, released by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Monday, showed that large futures traders and speculators slightly increased their bullish bets of the US dollar last week for the first time in a month.

Non-commercial large futures traders, including hedge funds and large International Monetary Market speculators, had an overall US dollar long position totaling $18.92 billion as of Tuesday December 24th, according to Reuters. This was a weekly change of +$0.60 billion from the total $18.32 billion bullish position that was recorded on December 17th, according to the calculations from Reuters (total of US dollar contracts against the combined contracts of the euro, British pound, Japanese yen, Australian dollar, Canadian dollar and the Swiss franc).

Large non-commercial positions had fallen for the previous three weeks after reaching a nearly three-month high on November 26th when US dollar bullish bets equaled $20.39 billion.

 

Individual Currencies – Large Speculators Positions in Futures:

The non-commercial net positions for each of the individual currencies directly against the US dollar showed weekly increases for the euro, Canadian dollar, New Zealand dollar and the Mexican peso while there were weekly declines for the British pound sterling, Japanese yen, Swiss franc and the Australian dollar. See charts & data below.

 

Individual Currency Charts:


EuroFX:

eurofx

Last Six Weeks of Large Trader Positions: EuroFX

DateLarge Trader Net PositionsWeekly Change
11/19/20138911-7915
11/26/2013-431-9342
12/03/201393129743
12/10/2013159306618
12/17/20132792311993
12/24/2013321724249



British Pound Sterling:

gbp

Last Six Weeks of Large Trader Positions: Pound Sterling

DateLg Trader NetWeekly Change
11/19/2013-16657638
11/26/20133912056
12/03/20131836917978
12/10/20131842960
12/17/201317825-604
12/24/201314420-3405



Japanese Yen:

jpy

Last Six Weeks of Large Trader Positions: Yen

DateLg Trader NetWeekly Change
11/19/2013-112216-17109
11/26/2013-123202-10986
12/03/2013-133383-10181
12/10/2013-1297113672
12/17/2013-130223-512
12/24/2013-143822-13599



Swiss Franc:

chf

Last Six Weeks of Large Trader Positions: Franc

DateLg Trader NetWeekly Change
11/19/20133669480
11/26/20134652983
12/03/201365471895
12/10/2013119985451
12/17/201311955-43
12/24/201311920-35



Canadian Dollar:

cad

Last Six Weeks of Large Trader Positions: CAD

DateLg Trader NetWeekly Change
11/19/2013-16335-243
11/26/2013-28780-12445
12/03/2013-41583-12803
12/10/2013-57514-15931
12/17/2013-65500-7986
12/24/2013-584327068



Australian Dollar:

aud

Last Six Weeks of Large Trader Positions: AUD

DateLg Trader NetWeekly Change
11/19/2013-3576247
11/26/2013-335112251
12/03/2013-44311-10800
12/10/2013-45850-1539
12/17/2013-51653-5803
12/24/2013-54239-2586



New Zealand Dollar:

nzd

Last Six Weeks of Large Trader Positions: NZD

DateLg Trader NetWeekly Change
11/19/2013124762110
11/26/201310249-2227
12/03/20137639-2610
12/10/20138553914
12/17/20135673-2880
12/24/20136456783



Mexican Peso:

mxn

Last Six Weeks of Large Trader Positions: MXN

DateLg Trader NetWeekly Change
11/19/201395392522
11/26/2013124632924
12/03/20138933-3530
12/10/20132253013597
12/17/201315650-6880
12/24/2013201784528



*COT Report: The weekly commitment of traders report summarizes the total trader positions for open contracts in the futures trading markets. The CFTC categorizes trader positions according to commercial hedgers (traders who use futures contracts for hedging as part of the business), non-commercials (large traders who speculate to realize trading profits) and nonreportable traders (usually small traders/speculators).

The Commitment of Traders report is published every Friday by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and shows futures positions data that was reported as of the previous Tuesday (3 days behind).

Each currency contract is a quote for that currency directly against the U.S. dollar, a net short amount of contracts means that more speculators are betting that currency to fall against the dollar and a net long position expect that currency to rise versus the dollar.

(The graphs overlay the forex spot closing price of each Tuesday when COT trader positions are reported for each corresponding spot currency pair.)

See more information and explanation on the weekly COT report from the CFTC website.




Article by CountingPips.comForex News & Analysis

 

 

 

US 10-Year Treasury Note Speculators bearish bets declined sharply last week

By CountingPips.com

Weekly CFTC Net Speculator Report




10year



10 Year Treasuries: Large speculators and futures market traders decreased their overall bearish positions in the 10-year treasury note futures by the most since the beginning of October, according to the latest Commitment of Traders (COT) data released by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Monday.

The non-commercial futures contracts of the 10-year treasury notes, traded by large speculators and hedge funds, totaled a net position of -105,768 contracts in the data reported for December 24th. This was a change of +49,441 contracts from the previous week’s total of -155,209 net contracts that was recorded on December 17th. The +49,441 change was the largest weekly gain in positions since October 1st when 10-Year bets registered a weekly change of +60,571 contracts and now overall net positions are at the least bearish level since October 15th when net positions totaled -99,788 contracts.

Over the same reporting time-frame, from Tuesday December 17th to Tuesday December 24th, the yield on the 10-Year treasury note increased from 2.85 to a yield of 2.99, according to data from the United States Treasury Department.


Last 6 Weeks of Large Trader Non-Commercial Positions

DateNet Large SpecsWeekly Change10 Year Yield
11/19/2013-1803637162.71
11/26/2013-155554248092.71
12/03/2013-167360-118062.79
12/10/2013-150029173312.81
12/17/2013-155209-51802.85
12/24/2013-105768494412.99



*COT Report: The weekly commitment of traders report summarizes the total trader positions for open contracts in the futures trading markets. The CFTC categorizes trader positions according to commercial hedgers (traders who use futures contracts for hedging as part of the business), non-commercials (large traders who speculate to realize trading profits) and nonreportable traders (usually small traders/speculators). Find CFTC criteria here: (http://www.cftc.gov/MarketReports/CommitmentsofTraders/ExplanatoryNotes/index.htm).




Article by CountingPips.comForex Trading News & Analysis

 

 

 

VIX Futures Speculators reduced bearish bets for 2nd straight week on Dec. 24th

By CountingPips.com

Weekly CFTC Net Speculator Report




vix


VIX Futures Contracts: Large traders and speculators decreased their overall bearish positions in the VIX futures market for a second consecutive week on December 24th, according to the latest data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) released on Monday. The VIX non-commercial contracts, traded primarily by large speculators and hedge funds, totaled a net position of -38,125 contracts in the data reported for December 24th. This was a change of +24,512 contracts from the previous week’s total of -62,637 net contracts on December 17th. Speculators have now reduced bearish positions for a second straight week after raising their bearish bets the previous six weeks through December 10th.

Meanwhile, over the same time-frame, the VIX index decreased from 16.21 on Tuesday December 17th to 12.48 on Tuesday December 24th, according to the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) Volatility Index.



Last 6 Weeks of Large Trader Positions

DateNet Non-CommericalsChangeVIX Score
11/19/2013-54855-1033013.39
11/26/2013-60024-516912.81
12/03/2013-62050-202614.55
12/10/2013-73332-1128213.91
12/17/2013-626371069516.21
12/24/2013-381252451212.48



*COT Report: The weekly commitment of traders report summarizes the total trader positions for open contracts in the futures trading markets. The CFTC categorizes trader positions according to commercial hedgers (traders who use futures contracts for hedging as part of the business), non-commercials (large traders who speculate to realize trading profits) and nonreportable traders (usually small traders/speculators). Find CFTC criteria here: (http://www.cftc.gov/MarketReports/CommitmentsofTraders/ExplanatoryNotes/index.htm).




Article by CountingPips.comForex News & Analysis

 

 

 

VIDEO: Former Lebanese Finance Minister Assassinated

Former Lebanese finance minister Mohammad Shatah was killed along with four others when a booby trapped car exploded in Beirut on Friday. Around 15 people were injured in the blast. He was on his way to former prime minister Saad Hariri’s residence to attend a meeting for an opposition conclave early next year. Shatah had also served as adviser to former prime minister Fouad Saniora

VIDEO: U.S. Mortgage Applications Hit Record Low

Applications for U.S. home mortgages fell for a second week and hit a 13-year low as mortgage rates rose due to a bond market sell-off following the Federal Reserve’s decision to pare its bond purchase stimulus in January. The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity, which includes both refinancing and home purchase demand, fell 6.3 percent to the lowest level since December 2000.

VIDEO: Committee For Unsecured Creditors Appointed In Detroit Bankruptcy

The judge overseeing Detroit’s historic bankruptcy case on Monday named a committee to represent interests of the unsecured creditors as the city prepares to submit a plan to the court to readjust its debt. “Its primary power… is to have a stronger voice than an individual creditor, while actively participating in the negotiation of a plan for the adjustment of the debtor’s financial obligations,” said a December 6 letter sent to all prospective committee members by the U.S.

EURUSD Forex Trading Pivot Point Levels for 2013.12.23

2013.12.23 13:30 6:30AM ET | EURUSD Currency Pair

SC EURUSD 2013.12.23

Here are the Pivot Points Levels with Support (S) and Resistance (R) for the EURUSD currency pair today. Price action is currently trading over the daily pivot point at the 1.36819 price level, according to data at 6:30 AM ET. The EURUSD high for the day has been 1.36944 while the low of day reached to 1.36665. The pair earlier today opened the Asian trading session slightly above the daily pivot and has trended modestly higher over the course of the day.

Daily Pivot Point: 1.36675
— S1 – 1.36266
— S2 – 1.35838
— S3 – 1.35429
— R1 – 1.37103
— R2 – 1.37512
— R3 – 1.37940


Weekly Pivot Points: EURUSD

SC EURUSD 2013.12.23

Prices are currently trading under the weekly pivot point (1.3701) at time of writing after opening this week below the weekly pivot.

Weekly Pivot Point: 1.37016
— S1 – 1.35925
— S2 – 1.35154
— S3 – 1.34063
— R1 – 1.37787
— R2 – 1.38878
— R3 – 1.39649


By CountingPips.com – Forex Trading Apps & Currency Trade Tools

 

Disclaimer: Foreign Currency trading and trading on margin carries a high level of risk and volatility and can result in loss of part or all of your investment. All information and opinions contained do not constitute investment advice and accuracy of prices, charts, calculations cannot be guaranteed.