A volume subsitution for spot

does anyone here use the COT report from CFTC.GOV as an alternative volume report for OTC? Since I dont know too much about futures trading, i was wondering if anyone here can shed some light on the usefulness of the COT report? Thanks

Here ya go, read up on this link.

http://www.commitmentoftraders.com/

Personally I do use COT to get an idea on where price MAYBE heading in the future. I would not use it for short term trading. If your a position trader, its a useful tool.

Thanks Serj. couple of questions. first of all, how did they come up the number of lage professional traders. On the COT reports from US government site, there is only the difference between commercial and non-commercial. second, do you get the charts for free every week? how does it work for that site? Thanks

<!-- / message -->Here's another you can try

http://www.freecotcharts.com/charts/BP.htm


http://www.softwarenorth.com/trading...tmentscurrent/

Found this one hiding in my old bookmarks

Thanks for all the info guys. I was looking at Euro COT, and it is showing that Large speculators and Commercial has reached record divergence. what do you guys make of it?

I also use the COT, and I have been looking at the same thing, I epect a big time down turn over a long period of time

I use this site www.cot-futures.com, but there is a subscription fee, only about USD$50.00 a year. A small price to pay.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o></o>

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The information does work. I've used it in the futures markets. I learnt about this from a Larry Williams course, which I highly recommend. Check out Larry's website http://www.ireallytrade.com/<o></o>

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The COT data is collect by the CFTC. By law, all brokers, commercial traders and large speculators must report all large positions to the CFTC. The CFTC then report this data to the public. Check out their website www.cftc.gov and read up on the COT link.<o></o>

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As for the Euro FX, the Commercial traders have been heavily short since 6th June, and small speculators heavily long. That doesn’t mean you rush out and short the Euro to death. It means that there COULD BE a turn around in the near future.<o></o>

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Go over the COT charts, even old ones from www.cot-futures.com will do the trick, and pull up daily charts for all the commodities listed. You will see that on MOST occasions (again, not everything is 100% in the futures/forex markets) that when the commercial traders are heavily long or short in a particular market, and the small speculators and doing the opposite, the market turns in favour of the commercial traders.

Hope this info helps with your trading. Good Luck.