The latest Commitments of Traders report was released, covering positions through last Tuesday
The 3-Year Min/Max Screen shows that "smart money" hedgers established a multi-year extreme in energy contracts, with the smallest number of net short contracts in more than 5 years. They've moved to a net long position in oats, which the Backtest Engine shows is a decent sign for forward returns. It's very odd to see that after a parabolic move in the underlying contract. Hedgers are currently holding fewer than 50,000 contracts net long, less than 15% of open interest, in VIX futures. That's the 2nd-lowest amount in more than 2 years, and is a weak argument that the VIX should decline.
