Gold COT report: large speculators at the 58th percentile of three years

Name: Gold Commitments of Traders positioning
Creator: TradeEasy

Large speculators are more long than in 58% of the last 156 weekly reports. They hold 225,853 contracts net long, down 4,485 on the week.

GC · CFTC Legacy report, futures only · data as of Tue 22 Sep 2026 · published Fri 25 Sep · next Fri 2 Oct, 15:30 ET

Large speculators · 3-year percentile

58^thMid-range

Last week 61st1-year 76th

Positions by trader group

Trader groupLongShortNetWk chg% OI long3-year percentile1-yr

Large speculatorsNon-commercial traders253,98228,129+225,853−4,48561.5%58^thMid-range76th

CommercialsHedgers and producers57,458320,361−262,903−1,18213.9%39^thMid-range22nd

Small tradersNon-reportable positions52,43715,387+37,050+5,66712.7%84^thStretched long57th

Open interest 412,800Commercials usually sit opposite large speculators — that is hedging, not a view.

Large speculatorsNon-commercial traders

58^thMid-range

Long254.0kShort28.1kNet+225.9kWk chg−4.5k

CommercialsHedgers and producers

39^thMid-range

Long57.5kShort320.4kNet−262.9kWk chg−1.2k

Small tradersNon-reportable positions

84^thStretched long

Long52.4kShort15.4kNet+37.0kWk chg+5.7k

Open interest 412,800

Three years of positioning

GOLD close on each report date (own panel, own scale) · Large speculators net position (contracts) · dashed = 10th / 90th percentile of the weeks shown

3-year percentile, every week · blue = long side · rose = short side

Large speculators

Commercials

Small traders

Table view: all 156 weeks

This reading in context

Window high+315,390 · Tue 24 Sep 2024
Window low+71,433 · Tue 10 Oct 2023
Weeks at 90th+0 of 29 · how rare this reading is

Past extreme readings

Extreme long12 May ’26 · Small traders · 90th · net +38.6k
Extreme long21 Apr ’26 · Small traders · 92nd · net +38.9k
Extreme long14 Apr ’26 · Small traders · 91st · net +38.6k
Extreme long31 Mar ’26 · Small traders · 91st · net +38.4k
Extreme long17 Mar ’26 · Small traders · 92nd · net +38.8k
Extreme long10 Mar ’26 · Small traders · 93rd · net +39.8k

Weekly change, last 12 reports

7 Jul−4,48522 Sep

Large speculators have reduced their net position for 2 straight weeks.

Silver27^th Copper99^th Platinum46^th Palladium61^st Aluminum (Midwest premium)16^th Hot-rolled coil steel77^th

Positioning is descriptive: it shows where each group stands against its own history, not where price goes next. Crowded positions can stay crowded for months.

What the COT report is, and how to read it

What the COT report is

Every Friday the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) publishes who holds what in each regulated futures market, as of the previous Tuesday. The Legacy report groups traders into large speculators (non-commercial), commercials (hedgers and producers) and small traders (positions too small to report), so you can see which side each group is on.

Why a percentile, not the raw number

Contract counts mean little on their own: 18,000 contracts is a lot in silver and very little in the S&P 500. So each net position is ranked against the same contract’s own last 3 years (156 weekly reports). The 92nd percentile means more long than in 92% of those weeks. Where we hold fewer weeks, the page says so (“1-year percentile”).

How people read the extremes

Readings at or above the 90th percentile, or at or below the 10th, are rare by definition — the group is unusually one-sided. That describes positioning; it is not a forecast. Crowded positions can stay crowded for months.

What it can’t tell you

The data is three days old when published and covers futures only. It shows positions, not intentions or timing, and says nothing on its own about where price goes next.

Educational information, not investment advice. Positioning data: CFTC Commitments of Traders (Legacy report, futures only), via Financial Modeling Prep. Percentiles are computed by TradeEasy against each contract’s own history. Past positioning does not predict future prices.