Reading COT Reports

Hi,

Can someone explain to me how I read these COT reports? Do I follow the commerical traders or large market movers as a small speculator trading currencies? The number of contracts differences mean anything?

Charts | Timing Charts

confused?

Thanks.

Some info on this thread you started before:
http://www.trade2win.com/boards/general-trading-chat/130296-cot-reports.html#post1622804

Today's COT report.

I like this one. Firm sleeping keeps my back aligned. Great for emergencies when the wife throws me out of the bedroom. Tucks away under the bed when not in use.




Peter

depends who you ask.

its all relative if you ask me..different market conditions change what the same thing will tell you.

true I understand now its better not asking just find it for yourself!

Something like this I would expect from this forum.

forward to 18.53mins Measuring Sentiment in the Market - Christopher Vecchio | FXCM Expo 2011 - YouTube

is he talking about eurusd or eurodollars (ed) ?

either way he seems to lack any real understanding of the cot

I learned more from him than anyone on this thread.

what you could do, which i did..is study the cot yourself and come up with your own conclusions and model on how to use it in the markets. but easier to ask someone else isnt it..

Serach my web post on my signature below. I got details & other web about this COT

N Rothschild said:

what you could do, which i did..is study the cot yourself and come up with your own conclusions and model on how to use it in the markets. but easier to ask someone else isnt it..

Click to expand...

The fact is someone experienced in the market for years can explain it point blank rather than researching it for days on end to find out its no longer applicable because of xyz.

Futures Hunter said:

Serach my web post on my signature below. I got details & other web about this COT

Click to expand...

At least a constructive reply and willing to help others should take note.

Pipsaholic said:

The fact is someone experienced in the market for years can explain it point blank rather than researching it for days on end to find out its no longer applicable because of xyz.



At least a constructive reply and willing to help others should take note.

Click to expand...

i've seen exponential growth for COT programmes on sale over the last 2 years
i find the simplest view will basically tell you exactly what a complicated add-on can do......afterall, the whole point of viewing COT is to get bias and not for execution and i think that using the COT as a bias says everything you need as a retail trader......trying to pin-point entries and exits on a COT report (already out of date) is fraught with the usual

no matter how much data you get you'll still need to transact based in immediate data, which, ime, supercedes the COT.....clearly, if youre riding 1 min bars then a 3 day old COT is hardly in context and even if it were, the data you see unfurling in real time is the data you need to go with in that set-up

imo and ime

anyways, here's a simple view, free .......which is nice

finviz.com/futures_charts.ashx?t=6E&p=d1

I agree with Joules - it is a weekly report and should be taken as a general sentiment of the market.

Here is a link to a site showing how one person uses it:

Commitment of Traders – How to Follow the Professionals

The raw data is available for download to excel from:

Historical Compressed - CFTC

If you have Tradestation it is available through the data feed

Charlton

Dear Pipsaholic,

Pardon me, if I'm not going to reply to your question in this thread, but since I understand your question and I'd like to help you understand COT report better, let me invite you to my thread, that I just started yesterday (Forums / Financial Markets / Futures / Follow the Smart Money / COT Analysis). My intention is to introduce anyone who is interested in COT analysis to this tool. I think you will find all the answers you're looking for!

Have a great day,
Dunstan