S&P 500 E-mini COT report: large speculators at the 32nd percentile of three years

Name: S&P 500 E-mini Commitments of Traders positioning
Creator: TradeEasy

Large speculators are more short than in 68% of the last 156 weekly reports. They hold 133,228 contracts net short, down 32,767 on the week.

ES · 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

32^ndMid-range

Last week 43rd1-year 43rd

Positions by trader group

Trader groupLongShortNetWk chg% OI long3-year percentile1-yr

Large speculatorsNon-commercial traders218,043351,271−133,228−32,76711.5%32^ndMid-range43rd

CommercialsHedgers and producers1,388,3621,359,482+28,880+19,68973.4%59^thMid-range55th

Small tradersNon-reportable positions250,187145,839+104,348+13,07813.2%57^thMid-range39th

Open interest 1,890,653Commercials usually sit opposite large speculators — that is hedging, not a view.

Large speculatorsNon-commercial traders

32^ndMid-range

Long218.0kShort351.3kNet−133.2kWk chg−32.8k

CommercialsHedgers and producers

59^thMid-range

Long1.39MShort1.36MNet+28.9kWk chg+19.7k

Small tradersNon-reportable positions

57^thMid-range

Long250.2kShort145.8kNet+104.3kWk chg+13.1k

Open interest 1,890,653

Three years of positioning

S&P500 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+113,440 · Tue 5 Nov 2024
Window low−239,827 · Tue 12 Mar 2024
Weeks at 90th+1 of 29 · how rare this reading is

Past extreme readings

Extreme long11 Aug ’26 · Large speculators · 91st · net +11.3k
Extreme short11 Aug ’26 · Commercials · 7th · net −142.4k
Extreme long16 Jun ’26 · Small traders · 91st · net +133.8k
Extreme short9 Jun ’26 · Large speculators · 9th · net −205.6k
Extreme short2 Jun ’26 · Large speculators · 5th · net −220.8k

Weekly change, last 12 reports

7 Jul−32,76722 Sep

Large speculators have reduced their net position for 6 straight weeks.

S&P 500 Micro E-mini27^th Nasdaq-100 E-mini99^th Dow Jones E-mini68^th Russell 2000 E-mini4^th S&P MidCap 400 E-mini61^st

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.